Lens driving apparatus, camera module, and optical instrument

ABSTRACT

A lens driving apparatus includes a cover member; a housing disposed inside the cover member; a bobbin disposed inside the housing so as to move in a first direction; a first coil disposed on an outer circumferential surface of the bobbin; a first magnet coupled to the housing; an upper elastic member disposed on the upper side of the bobbin and coupled to the bobbin and the housing; a base disposed on a the lower side of the housing and coupled to the cover member; a substrate disposed between the housing and the base and including a circuit member having a second coil disposed to be opposite to the first magnet; and a plurality of support members connected to the upper elastic member and the substrate. Each of the plurality of support members is disposed in the proximity of the edge of the upper elastic member, and wherein the support members are connected to the upper elastic member at a position where a length in the x direction and a length in they direction are different on the basis of the edge of the upper elastic member.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/038,586, filed on Sep. 30, 2020, which is a Continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/069,112, filed on Jul. 10, 2018 (now U.S.Pat. No. 10,830,980, issued on Nov. 10, 2020), which is the NationalPhase of PCT International Application No. PCT/KR2017/000352, filed onJan. 11, 2017, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) to PatentApplication No. 10-2016-0006573, filed in the Republic of Korea on Jan.19, 2016, Patent Application No. 10-2016-0035424, filed in the Republicof Korea on Mar. 24, 2016, and Patent Application No. 10-2016-0088507,filed in the Republic of Korea on Jul. 13, 2016, all of which are herebyexpressly incorporated by reference into the present application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The teachings in accordance with exemplary and non-limiting embodimentsof this invention relate generally to a lens driving device, a cameramodule, and an optical apparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

This section provides background information related to the presentdisclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.

Concomitant with widely generalized dissemination of various mobileterminals and commercialization of wireless Internet services, demandsby consumers related to mobile terminals are diversified to therebyrequire various types of circumferential devices or additional equipmentto be mounted on mobile terminals.

Inter alia, camera modules may be representative items photographing anobject in a still picture or a video. The camera module can perform anauto focusing function that aligns a focal distance of a lens byadjusting a gap between an image sensor and the lens. Furthermore,camera modules equipped with handshake correction (OIS: Optical ImageStabilization) function to correct distortions of image or video causedby a user handshake during photographing of a subject have beendeveloped. Moreover, a lens driving apparatus of a camera module may beformed with a cover member in order to accommodate and protect eachpart. Meantime, the cover member is generally formed with a conductivematerial.

When the cover member of conductive material and conductive parts thatreceive or transmit an electric signal are mutually contacted togenerate a short-circuit, the short-circuit may ill affect operations oflens driving apparatus such as an operation of auto focusing device andOIS devices, for example.

Hence, a lens driving apparatus and a camera module are required thathave a structure capable of effectively interrupt an electricshort-circuit between the cover member and the conductive parts.Furthermore, the conventional mobile phone assembly process has sufferedfrom disadvantages in that an optical alignment between a lens drivingapparatus and an image sensor is twisted or distorted to degradeperformances thereof when a pressure is applied to a bottom side of thelens driving apparatus.

Meantime, a cover member of a lens driving apparatus according to priorart has suffered disadvantages of being erroneously assembled in thecourse of assembly due to lack of assembly directivity relative to abase.

Technical Subject

In order to solve the abovementioned problems/disadvantages, exemplaryembodiments of the present invention provide a lens driving apparatushaving a sturdy structure capable of withstanding an outside impact, anda camera module including the lens driving apparatus and an opticalinstrument.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a lens drivingapparatus having a structure capable of effectively interruptinggeneration of electric short-circuit between a cover member andconductive parts, and a camera module including the lens drivingapparatus.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a lens drivingapparatus having a structure capable of preventing a performance changecaused by pressing of the lens driving apparatus.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a lens drivingapparatus capable of preventing an erroneous insertion of cover member.

Technical problems to be solved by the present invention are notrestricted to the above-mentioned, and any other technical problems notmentioned so far will be clearly appreciated from the followingdescription by skill in the art.

Technical Solution

A lens driving apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, comprising: a housing; a bobbin disposed inside thehousing so as to move in a first direction; a first coil disposed on anouter circumferential surface of the bobbin; a first magnet disposed onthe housing and facing the first coil; an upper elastic member disposedon the upper side of the bobbin and coupled to the bobbin and thehousing; a base disposed on a lower side of the housing; a substratedisposed between the housing and the base and including a circuit memberhaving a second coil disposed to be opposite to the first magnet; and asupport member connected to the upper elastic member and the substrate,wherein the support member includes a first coupling part coupled to theupper elastic member, and wherein the first coupling part is disposed onan upper side of a corner part of housing formed between a first lateralsurface and a second lateral surface of housing, and a distance betweenthe first coupling part and the first lateral surface of the housing isdifferent from a distance between the first coupling part and the secondlateral surface of housing.

A lens driving apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, comprising: a cover member; a housing disposed insidethe cover member; a bobbin disposed inside the housing so as to move ina first direction; a first coil disposed on an outer circumferentialsurface of the bobbin; a first magnet coupled to the housing; an upperelastic member disposed on the upper side of the bobbin and coupled tothe bobbin and the housing; a base disposed on a the lower side of thehousing and coupled to the cover member; a substrate disposed betweenthe housing and the base and including a circuit member having a secondcoil disposed to be opposite to the first magnet; and a plurality ofsupport members connected to the upper elastic member and the substrate;wherein each of the plurality of support members is disposed in theproximity of the edge of the upper elastic member, and wherein thesupport members are connected to the upper elastic member at a positionwhere a length in the x direction and a length in the y direction aredifferent on the basis of the edge of the upper elastic member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the substrate may further include a PCB(Printed Circuit Board) disposed on a lower side of circuit member andelectrically connected to the circuit member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the PCB may include a terminal surfacedisposed on a lateral surface of the base, and wherein a first discretedistance between the plurality of support members perpendicular to alengthwise direction of the terminal surface is formed to be shorterthan a second discrete distance between the plurality of support membersparallel with the lengthwise direction of the terminal surface.

In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal surface may be formed withtwo pieces, each piece disposed on a mutually opposite side on a lateralsurface of base, and wherein a third discrete distance from a lateralsurface of the circuit member of a side disposed with the terminalsurface to the support member may be formed to be longer than a fourthdiscrete distance from a lateral surface of circuit member at a sidedisposed with no terminal surface to the support member, when viewedfrom an upper side.

In some exemplary embodiments, the support member may be inserted at alower surface into a through hole disposed on the substrate, and may becoupled with the substrate using a solder.

In some exemplary embodiments, the circuit member may be formed with athrough hole inserted by the support member, and wherein the throughhole may be formed in the same number as that of the support member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal surface may be formed in twopieces, each piece disposed on a symmetrical position, and wherein athird discrete distance from a side disposed with the terminal surfacein each side of the circuit member to the support member may be formedto be longer than a fourth discrete distance from a side disposed withno terminal surface to the support member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the circuit member may take a squareshape, and the support member may be disposed on an area where theterminal surface is not belonged to in four areas of the circuit memberdivided by drawing two diagonal lines including an optical axis fromfour corners of the circuit member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the cover member may be disposed on bothsides of the terminal surface, and may include a first protrusionprotrusively formed downwardly of the cover member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the first protrusion may be coupled witha holder member disposed on a lower surface of base.

In some exemplary embodiments, the cover member may include a secondprotrusion protusively formed to a lower surface of the cover memberfrom a side disposed with no terminal surface on the PCB.

In some exemplary embodiments, the second protrusion may be coupled withthe base.

In some exemplary embodiments, the PCB may include a plurality of firstterminals connected to the first coil, and a plurality of secondterminals connected to the second coil.

In some exemplary embodiments, each of the plurality of first terminalsmay be symmetrically formed based on a center of the PCB.

In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of second terminals may besymmetrically formed based on a center of the PCB.

In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of first terminals and theplurality of second terminals may be formed with the same number of (+)terminals and the same number of (−) terminals.

In some exemplary embodiments, the first terminal includes a total sixpieces, and the second terminal may include a total of four pieces.

In some exemplary embodiments, the PCB may include a conductive patternconnecting the first terminal or the second terminal to a terminalformed on the terminal surface.

In some exemplary embodiments, the conductive pattern may include afirst conductive pattern formed on an upper surface of the PCB, and asecond conductive pattern formed on a lower surface of the PCB, whereinthe second conductive pattern may be connected to the terminal formed onthe terminal surface through a via hole.

In some exemplary embodiments, the lens driving apparatus may furthercomprise a bottom elastic member disposed on a lower side of the bobbinand coupled to the bobbin and the housing.

In some exemplary embodiments, an edge of the upper elastic member is anarea of the upper elastic member corresponding to an edge of the covermember, and an x-direction length and a y-direction length may berespectively a length measured toward an x-direction and a lengthmeasured toward a y-direction from the edge of the upper elastic memberto the support member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the support member may be formed in fourpieces, and may be formed with an elastic material.

In some exemplary embodiments, a connection part between the supportmember and the upper elastic member may be disposed on an edge of thehousing.

In some exemplary embodiments, a connection part between the supportmember and the upper elastic member may be disposed on a vicinity of anedge of the cover member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the support member may be disposed on anedge part of housing to elastically support the housing.

In another general aspect of the present invention, there is provided alens driving apparatus, comprising: a cover member; a housing disposedon an inside of the cover member; a bobbin disposed on an inside of thehousing to move to a first direction; a first coil disposed on an outercircumferential surface of bobbin; a first magnet coupled to thehousing; an upper elastic member disposed on an upper side of bobbin andcoupled to the bobbin and the housing; a lower elastic member disposedon a lower side of the bobbin and coupled to the bobbin and the housing;a base disposed on a lower side of housing and coupled to the covermember; a substrate interposed between the housing and the base andincluding a circuit member formed with a second coil so disposed as toface the first magnet; and a plurality of support members connected tothe upper elastic member and the substrate, wherein each of theplurality of support members is disposed in the proximity of the edge ofthe cover member, and the support members are connected to the upperelastic member at a position where a length in the x direction and alength in the y direction from the edge of the cover member aredifferent.

In some exemplary embodiments, a camera module may comprise: the lensdriving apparatus; and an image sensor mounted on the lens drivingapparatus.

In some exemplary embodiments, a mobile device may comprise: a displaymodule including a plurality of pixels that are changed in colors by anelectric signal; the camera module converting an image incident througha lens to an electric signal; and a controller controlling the displaymodule and the camera module.

In some exemplary embodiments, a lens driving apparatus may comprise: abobbin so disposed as to move to a first direction; a first coildisposed on an outer circumferential surface of bobbin; a housingdisposed on an inside with the bobbin; a first magnet coupled to thehousing; an upper elastic member disposed on an upper side of bobbin tosupport the bobbin; a lower elastic member disposed on a lower side ofbobbin to support the bobbin; a support member disposed on a sidesurface of housing to support the movement of housing to a seconddirection and/or a third direction; and a cover member, a part of whichis disposed on an upper side of the support member, wherein the covermember may be formed with an escape groove at an area facing the supportmember to a first direction.

In some exemplary embodiments, a lens driving apparatus may furthercomprise: a second coil so disposed as to face the first magnet; a basedisposed on a lower surface of bobbin; and a PCB accommodated at thebase.

In some exemplary embodiments, a lens driving apparatus may furthercomprise: a soldering part coupling an upper surface of the supportmember with the upper elastic member, wherein an upper end of thesoldering part may be spaced apart from the cover member to a firstdirection by the escape groove.

In some exemplary embodiments, a lens driving apparatus may furthercomprise an insulation part filled in the escape groove and formed withan electrically insulated material.

In some exemplary embodiments, the escape groove may be formed by aportion of the cover member being concaved to a first direction.

In some exemplary embodiments, the escape groove may be formed bypressing a portion of cover member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the escape groove may be formed byallowing one surface of cover member to be concaved, and the othersurface of cover member to be protruded.

In some exemplary embodiments, the cover member may be formed with ashape of a shape, and may be disposed on an edge area of housing in aplural number.

In some exemplary embodiments, the escape groove may be formed in aplural number at a position of the cover member corresponding to that ofsupport member to a first direction.

In some exemplary embodiments, the upper elastic member may be formedwith a soldering coupling part coupled to an upper surface of housingand soldered to an upper surface of the support member, and the housingmay be formed at an upper surface with a protrusion protrusively formedat a position adjacent to the soldering coupling part.

In some exemplary embodiments, the soldering coupling part may be formedwith a pair of mutually discrete pieces, and the protrusion may beinterposed between the pair of soldering coupling parts.

In some exemplary embodiments, the protrusion may prevent the solderingcoupling part from being plastically deformed.

A lens driving apparatus according to another exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention may comprise: a bobbin so disposed as to move to afirst direction; a first coil disposed on an outer circumferentialsurface of bobbin; a housing disposed on an inside of bobbin; a firstmagnet coupled to the housing; an upper elastic member disposed on anupper side of bobbin to support the bobbin; a lower elastic memberdisposed on a lower side of the bobbin to support the bobbin; a supportmember disposed on a side surface of housing to support the movement ofhousing to a second direction and/or a third direction; and a covermember disposed on an upper surface on an upper side of the supportmember and formed with an escape groove at an area facing the supportmember to a first direction, wherein the upper elastic member may beformed with a soldering coupling part coupled to an upper surface ofhousing and soldered to an upper surface of the support member, and thehousing may be formed at an upper surface with a protrusion protrusivelyformed at a position adjacent to the soldering coupling part.

In some exemplary embodiments, the camera module may include the lensdriving apparatus.

A lens driving apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention may comprise: a base; a cover member coupled to thebase and forming an inner space with the base; a bobbin accommodatedinto the inner space; a first driving part disposed on the bobbin; asecond driving part accommodated into the inner space to face the firstdriving part; and a support part extended from the cover member to alower side, wherein a lower end of the support part may face a lowersurface of the base or may be disposed on a lower side than the lowersurface of the base.

In some exemplary embodiments, the lens driving apparatus may furthercomprise: a substrate; and a third driving part disposed on thesubstrate to face the second driving part, wherein the substrate mayinclude a terminal part bent and extended to a lower side along a sidesurface of the base, and a lower end of the support part may face alower end of the terminal part or may be disposed on a lower side than alower end of the terminal part.

In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal part may include a firstterminal part disposed on a first side of the substrate, and a secondterminal part disposed on a second side disposed on an opposite side ofthe first side, wherein the support part may include a first supportpart disposed on the first side on the cover member, and a secondsupport part disposed on the second side on the cover member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the first support part may include afirst support lug and a second support lug each spaced apart from thefirst terminal part to both sides of long side direction of the firstterminal part, wherein the second support part may include a thirdsupport lug and a fourth support lug each spaced apart from the secondterminal part to both sides of long side of the second terminal part,and the first support lug and the third support lug may be symmetricalbased on a center of the cover member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the lens driving apparatus may furthercomprise: a first erroneous insertion prevention part disposed on alower end of the cover member; and a second erroneous insertionprevention part disposed on the base to be coupled to the firsterroneous insertion prevention part, wherein the first erroneousinsertion prevention part may have an uncorresponding shape based on acenter of the cover member.

In some exemplary embodiments, the first erroneous insertion preventionpart may include a protrusion protruding from a lower end of the covermember to a lower side, and the second erroneous insertion preventionpart may include a reception part recessed inwardly from a side surfaceof base to include the protrusion.

In some exemplary embodiments, the protrusion may include a first lugdisposed on a side plate of one side at the cover member, and a secondlug disposed on a side plate of the other side at the cover member, andthe reception part may include a first groove having a shapecorresponding to that of the first lug to accommodate the first lug, anda second groove having a shape corresponding to that of the second lugto accommodate the second lug.

In some exemplary embodiments, the first erroneous insertion preventionpart may include a concave part recessed from a lower end of the covermember to an upper side, and the second erroneous insertion preventionpart may include an insertion part protruded from the base to beaccommodated into the concave part.

In some exemplary embodiments, the lens driving apparatus may furthercomprise: a substrate disposed on the base; and a third driving partdisposed on the substrate to face the second driving part, wherein thesubstrate may be formed with a ground pad part contacting theprotrusion, and the cover member may contain a metal material.

In some exemplary embodiments, the lens driving apparatus may furthercomprise a direction indication marking formed the cover member to beexposed to the outside.

A camera module according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may comprise: a base; a cover member coupled to the base andforming an inner space with the base; a bobbin accommodated into theinner space; a first driving part disposed on the bobbin; a seconddriving part accommodated into the inner space to face the first drivingpart; and a support part extended from the cover member to a lower side,wherein a lower end of the support part may face a lower surface of thebase or may be disposed on a lower side than the lower surface of thebase.

In some exemplary embodiments, the camera module may further include aPCB mounted with an image sensor and disposed with the base, wherein thesupport part may be coupled to the PCB using a solder, or fixed to thePCB using an active alignment bond.

An optical instrument according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention may comprise: a base; a cover member coupled to thebase and forming an inner space with the base; a bobbin accommodatedinto the inner space; a first driving part disposed on the bobbin; asecond driving part accommodated into the inner space to face the firstdriving part; and a support part extended from the cover member to alower side, wherein a lower end of the support part may face a lowersurface of the base or may be disposed on a lower side than the lowersurface of the base.

Advantageous Effects

The support member in the exemplary embodiment may be disposed on thecircuit member to allow a discrete distance from a side arranged with aterminal surface among sides of circuit member is longer than a discretedistance from a side where the terminal surface is not disposed, wherebydisconnection and damage to the support member caused by an externalimpact can be restricted.

The exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a pluralityof first print terminals and a plurality of second print terminals,whereby the first coil and the second coil may be restricted from beingdisconnected with outside power due to damage to the PCB.

The first protrusion and the second protrusion in the exemplaryembodiment of the present invention may restrict the movement of PCB toallow the coupling between a terminal of PCB and terminal of holdermember using a soldering and electric connection works to be easilyimplemented.

The escape groove in the exemplary embodiment of the present inventionformed on the cover member may prevent an electric short-circuit betweenthe support member and the cover member, whereby malfunction of lensdriving apparatus caused by the electric short-circuit and degradedscreen of photographed image can be prevented.

The housing may be formed with the protrusion in the exemplaryembodiment of the present invention to effectively prevent the plasticdeformation of the soldering coupling part that may be generated whenthe upper elastic member is coupled to the housing.

The changes in performances caused by depression of lens drivingapparatus may be prevented through the exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

Furthermore, the cover member may be prevented from being coupled to thebase in an erroneous insertion state.

Moreover, the phenomenon of coupling with inconsistent directivity canbe prevented that may occur in the process of the lens driving apparatuscoupled with the cover member being coupled to the PCB of camera module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a lens driving apparatusaccording to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a lens drivingapparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a bobbin according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a housing according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plane view removed of a cover member in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of ‘A’ area in FIG. 5 .

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating an arrangement of supportmember, circuit member and PCB according to a first exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plane view of FIG. 7 .

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of ‘B’ area in FIG. 8 .

FIG. 10 is a planar view illustrating a PCB when viewed from an upperside according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of FIG. 1 rotated about z axis.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view illustrating a state where a lens drivingapparatus and a holder member are coupled according to a first exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating an optical instrumentaccording to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating an optical instrumentillustrated in FIG. 13 .

FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating a lens driving apparatusaccording to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a lens drivingapparatus according to a second exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of ‘A’ area in FIG. 15 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a plane view removed of cover member in the lens drivingapparatus according to a second exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 19 is a bottom view illustrating a cover member according to asecond exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view illustrating ‘A’ area of FIG. 15according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view illustrating ‘A’ area of FIG. 15according to still another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 22 is an enlarged view illustrating ‘B’ area of FIG. 18 .

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of FIG. 22 .

FIG. 24 is a perspective view illustrating a lens driving apparatusaccording to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a lens drivingapparatus according to a third exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view illustrating a cover member of a lensdriving apparatus according to a third exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 27 is an exploded perspective view illustrating some elements of alens driving apparatus according to a third exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 28 is a conceptual view illustrating some elements (a) of a lensdriving apparatus according to a third exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention and some elements (b) of a lens driving apparatusaccording to a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a lens drivingapparatus according to a third exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention is coupled to a PCB of camera module.

BEST MODE

Some of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the descriptions,the same reference numerals will be assigned to the same elements in theexplanations of the figures.

Furthermore, the terms “first,” “second,” “A”, “B”, (a), (b) and thelike may be used in explanation of elements according to exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. These terms are used merely todistinguish one element from another and do not limited to essences,orders or sequences of relevant elements by the relevant terms. When anelement is ‘connected’, ‘coupled’ or ‘joined’ to other elements, theelement may be directly connected, coupled or joined, but it should beappreciated that ‘connected’, ‘coupled’ or ‘joined’ may mean that two ormore elements are ‘connected’, ‘coupled’ or ‘joined’ together viaanother element or intermediate elements.

An “optical axis direction” as used hereinafter may be defined as anoptical axis direction of a lens module in a state of being coupled to alens driving device. Meantime, the “optical axis direction” may beinterchangeably used with “vertical direction” and “z axis direction”and the like.

An “auto focus function” as used hereinafter may be defined as afunction of automatically matching a focus relative to an object byadjusting a distance from an image sensor by moving a lens module to anoptical axis direction. Meantime, the “auto focus” may beinterchangeably used with “AF”.

A “handshake correction function” as used hereinafter may be defined asa function of moving or tilting a lens module to a directionperpendicular to an optical axis direction in order to offset vibration(movement) generated on the image sensor by an outer force. Meantime,the “handshake correction” may be interchangeably used with an “OIS(Optical Image Stabilization)”.

Moreover, an orthogonal coordinate system (x, y, z) may be in thedrawings. x axis and y axis in the drawings may be defined as a planesurface perpendicular to an optical axis, and, for convenience sake, anoptical axis (z axis direction) may be defined as a first direction, xaxis direction may be defined as a second direction, and y axisdirection may be defined as a third direction.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a lens driving apparatusaccording to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a lens drivingapparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

An auto focusing device applied to a small camera of a mobile devicelike a smart phone or a tablet PC is a device automatically capturing afocus of an image of a subject on a surface of an image sensor (notshown). The auto focusing device may be variably formed, and in theexemplary embodiments of the present invention, an optical module formedwith a plurality of lenses may be moved to a first direction to performthe auto focusing operation.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the lens driving apparatus according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a mover and astator. At this time, the mover may perform an auto focusing function ofa lens. The mover may include a bobbin (110) and a first coil (120), andthe stator may include a first magnet (130), a housing (140), an upperelastic member (150) and a lower elastic member (160).

The bobbin (110) may be disposed on an inside of the housing so as tomove to a first direction, may be disposed on an outer circumferentialsurface with a first coil (120) disposed on an inside of the firstmagnet (130), and may be reciprocally disposed on an inner space of thehousing (140) to the first direction by an electromagnetic interactionbetween the first magnet (130) and the first coil (120). The bobbin(110) may be disposed on an outer circumferential surface with the firstcoil (120) to enable an electromagnetic interaction with the firstmagnet (130).

Furthermore, the bobbin (110) may be elastically supported by the upperand lower elastic members (150, 160) to move to the first directionwhereby auto focusing function can be implemented. The bobbin (110) mayinclude a lens barrel (not shown) disposed on an inside with at leastone lens. The lens barrel may be coupled to an inside of the bobbin(110) by way of variable methods. For example, a female screw may beformed at an inner circumferential surface of the bobbin (110), and amale screw corresponding to the female screw may be formed at an outercircumferential surface of the lens barrel and the female screw and themale screw may be screw-connected and coupled to the bobbin (110).However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the innercircumferential surface of bobbin (110) may not be formed with screwthreads, and the lens barrel may be directly fixed to an inside of thebobbin (110) using various other methods than the screw connection.Alternatively, one or more lenses may be integrally formed with thebobbin (110) free from the lens barrel.

The lens coupled to the lens barrel may be formed with one sheet, or maybe so formed as to constitute an optical system where two or more lensesare formed. The auto focusing function may be controlled by a currentdirection and/or current amount, where the auto focusing function may beembodied by an operation of moving the bobbin (110) to the firstdirection.

For example, when a forward current is applied, the bobbin (110) maymove to an upper side from an initial position, and when a backwardcurrent is applied, the bobbin (110) may move to a lower side from theinitial position. Alternatively, a movement distance can be increased ordecreased to one direction from the initial position by adjusting acurrent amount of one direction.

The bobbin (110) may be protrusively formed at an upper surface and alower surface with a plurality of upper support lugs and lower supportlugs. The upper support lug may be provided in a cylindrical shape or asquare column shape, and may be coupled and fixed with the upper elasticmember (150) by guiding the upper elastic member (150). The lowersupport lug may be also provided in a cylindrical shape or a squarecolumn shape as the upper support lug, and may be coupled and fixed withthe lower elastic member (160) by guiding the lower elastic member(160). The upper elastic member (150) may be disposed on an upper sideof bobbin (110), and the lower elastic member (160) may be disposed on alower side of bobbin (110), and may be respectively coupled to thebobbin (110) and the housing (140). At this time, the upper elasticmember (150) may be formed with a through hole and/or groovecorresponding to the upper support lug, and the lower elastic member(160) may be formed with a through hole and/or groove corresponding tothe lower support lug. Each of the support lugs and the through holeand/groove may be fixedly coupled by thermal fusion or an adhesivemember such as epoxy.

The housing (140) may take a hollow-holed pillar shape supporting thefirst magnet (130), and substantially formed with a square shape and maybe disposed on an inside of the cover member (300). The housing (140)may be disposed on a side surface with the first magnet (130) that iscoupled to the housing (140). Furthermore, as mentioned above, thehousing (140) may be disposed on an inside thereof with the bobbin (110)that moves to the first direction by being guided to the upper and lowerelastic members (150, 160).

The first magnet (130) in one exemplary embodiment may have a shape of arod and may be coupled or disposed on a surrounding of a side of thehousing (140). In another exemplary embodiment, the first magnet (130)may have a trapezoidal shape and may be coupled or disposed on an areaof an edge of the housing (140). Meantime, the first magnet (130) may beformed in one piece or two or more pieces. Furthermore, the first magnet(130) may be formed in a multi-layered structure where a plural numberof first magnets (130) may be arranged to the first direction.

The upper and lower elastic members (150, 160) may elastically supportup and/or down operations of bobbin (110) to the first direction. Theupper elastic member (150) and the lower elastic member (160) may beformed with a leaf spring.

As illustrated in FIG. 2 , the upper elastic member (150) may be formedwith two pieces each separated. Through this bifurcated structure, eachdivided upper elastic member (150) may be applied with a current ofmutually different polarity or with mutually different powers or maybecome a current transfer path.

Furthermore, in a modification, the lower elastic member (160) may beformed with two pieces each separated, and the upper elastic member(150) may be integrally formed. Meantime, the upper elastic member(150), the lower elastic member (160), the bobbin (110) and the housing(140) may be assembled through thermal fusion and/or a bonding operationusing an adhesive. At this time, for example, the fixing operation maybe finished by bonding using an adhesive after thermal fusion fixation.

The base (210) may be disposed on a lower side of bobbin (110) and PCB(250) and may be substantially provided with a square shape, and may beaccommodated by a PCB (250). A surface opposite to an area formed with aterminal surface (253) of the PCB (250) of base (210) may be formed witha support groove of corresponding size. Furthermore, the base (210) maybe disposed on a lower side of the housing (140) to be coupled with thecover member (300).

The support groove may be recessed inwardly at a predetermined depthfrom an outer circumferential surface of base (210) to prevent an areaformed with the terminal surface (253) from protruding to outside or toadjust a protruding amount.

A support member (220) may be disposed on a corner part of housing(140), an upper side being coupled to the upper elastic member (150) anda lower side being coupled to a substrate including the base (210), thePCB (250) and a circuit member (231), and may support the bobbin (110)and the housing (140) so that the bobbin (110) and the housing (140) canmove to a second direction and/or a third direction and may beelectrically connected to the first coil (120).

The support member (220) may elastically support the housing (140) bybeing disposed on the corner part of housing (140). The support member(220) may be disposed in a plural number, and each of the supportmembers (220) in an exemplary embodiment may be disposed on an edge,i.e., at a corner part of the housing (140), with a total of foursupport members (220). The support member (220) may be formed with anelastically-deformable material to allow the bobbin (110) and thehousing (140) to move on an x-y plane. Alternatively, the support member(220) in another exemplary embodiment may be disposed in a total of sixpieces, two support members each on two corner parts, and one supportmember each on remaining two corner parts, a total six support members.Alternatively, the support member (220) may be disposed in a total ofseven pieces, or in a total of nine pieces, depending on circumstances.

Moreover, the support member (220) may be electrically connected to theupper elastic member (150). That is, for example, the support member(220) may be electrically connected to an area where a through hole ofthe upper elastic member (150) is formed. Furthermore, the supportmember (220) may be formed separate from the upper elastic member (150),whereby the support member (220) and the upper elastic member (150) canbe electrically connected using a conductive adhesive agent, solderingor welding. Thus, the upper elastic member (150) can apply a current tothe first coil (120) through the electrically-connected support member(220).

The support member (220) may be inserted at a lower end into a throughhole formed on the substrate including the circuit member (231) and thePCB (250), and coupled to the substrate by being soldered. That is, thesupport member (220) may be electrically connected to the substrate bybeing inserted and soldered at a lower end into a through hole formed atthe circuit member (231) and/or the PCB (250). Alternatively, thesupport member (220) may be electrically soldered to an areacorresponding to the circuit member (231), while the circuit member(231) and/or the PCB (250) are not formed with a through hole.

Meanwhile, although FIG. 2 has not illustrated the linear support member(220) as a first exemplary embodiment, the present invention is notlimited thereto. That is, the support member (220) may be also formedwith a shape of a plate member.

A second coil (230) can move the housing (140) to a second directionand/or a third direction through an electromagnetic interaction with thefirst magnet (130), whereby the support member (220) can perform the OISfunction through the elastic deformation. Here, the second directionand/or the third direction may include not only x axis (or firstdirection) direction and y axis (or second direction), but alsodirections substantially close to x axis direction and y axis direction.That is, in the prospective of driving aspect in the exemplaryembodiment, the housing (140) may move in parallel with the x axis and yaxis directions, but may also move slightly slanted to the x axis and yaxis directions when moving by being supported by the support member(220).

Thus, there is a need of the first magnet (130) being disposed on aposition corresponding to the second coil (230).

The second coil (230) may be so disposed as to face the first magnet(130) fixed to the housing (140). In an exemplary embodiment, the secondcoil (230) may be disposed on an outside of the first magnet (130).Alternatively, the second coil (230) may be disposed by being spacedapart from a lower side of the first magnet (130) at a predetermineddistance. According to an exemplary embodiment, the second coil (230)may be disposed with a total of four pieces, each at four side areas ofthe circuit member (231). However, the present invention is not limitedthereto, and a total of two pieces, one for second direction and one forthird direction, may be installed and more than four pieces may be alsoinstalled. Alternatively, one at a first side for second direction, twoat a second side for second direction, one at a third side for thirddirection and two at a fourth side for third direction, a total of sixpieces may be also installed. Alternatively, in this case, first sideand the fourth side may be adjacent, and the second side and the thirdside may be adjacently disposed.

In an exemplary embodiment, the circuit member (231) may be formed witha circuit pattern in a shape of the second coil (230), and a separatesecond coil may be disposed on an upper surface of circuit member (231).However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a circuitpattern in the shape of second coil (230) may be directly formed on anupper surface of circuit member (231).

Alternatively, the second coil (230) may be formed in a shape of adoughnut by winding a wire, or formed in a shape of an FP coil to allowbeing electrically connected to the PCB (250).

The circuit member (231) including the second coil (230) may beinstalled or disposed on an upper surface of the PCB (250) disposed onan upper side of the base (210). However, the present invention is notlimited thereto, and the second coil (230) may be closely disposed withthe base (210), may be spaced apart from the base (210), or may beformed on a separate substrate which may be stacked and connected to thePCB (250). The substrate may be interposed between the housing (140) andthe base (210), and may include a circuit member (231) and a PCB (250).At this time, the circuit member (231) and the PCB (250) may beelectrically connected. The circuit member (231) may include a secondcoil (230) so disposed as to face the first magnet (130) and may bedisposed on an upper side of the PCB (250).

The PCB (250) may be disposed on a lower side of circuit member (231),may be electrically connected to at least one of the upper elasticmember (150) and the lower elastic member (160), and may be coupled toan upper surface of the base (210) and may be formed at a positioncorresponding to a distal end of the support member (220) with a throughhole inserted by the support member (220). Alternatively, the throughhole may not be formed to allow being electrically connected or bondedto the support member.

In another exemplary embodiment, when the support member (220) iscoupled to the circuit member (231), a corner part corresponding to thesupport member (220) of the PCB (250) may be formed with an escape partin order to facilitate the coupling work such as soldering between thesupport member (220) and the circuit member (231). The PCB (250) may becoupled to an upper surface of base (210) to be disposed on a lower sideof circuit member (231), and may be electrically connected to thecircuit member (231). The PCB (250) may be disposed on a side surface ofbase (210) to form a terminal surface (253) mounted with a terminal(251). The exemplary embodiment has illustrated the PCB (250) formedwith two bent terminal surfaces (253).

The terminal surface (253) may be disposed with a plurality of terminals(251) to supply a current to the first coil (120) and to the second coil(230) by receiving the current from an outside power source. The numberof terminals (251) formed on the terminal surface (253) may be increasedor decreased depending on types of elements that are required.Furthermore, the PCB (250) may be formed with one or more than twoterminal surfaces (253).

The cover member (300) may be provided in a box shape formed withcorners, may accommodate a portion or all of the mover, the second coil(230) and the PCB (250), and may be coupled with the base (210). Thecover member (300) may protect the mover, the second coil (230) and thePCB (250) accommodated therein from being damaged. Furthermore, thecover member (300) may additionally limit an electromagnetic fieldgenerated by the first magnet (130), the first coil (120) and the secondcoil (230) from being leaked to outside to allow an electromagneticfield to be collected.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a bobbin according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is aperspective view illustrating a housing according to a first exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, structure of bobbin (110) and housing (140) will bedescribed in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 . FIG. 3 is aperspective view illustrating a bobbin (110) according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The bobbin (110) may include a first upper support lug (113) and a thirdprotrusion (111). The first upper support lug (113) may be formed in acylindrical shape or other shapes, and may guide the upper elasticmember (150) to allow the upper elastic member (150) to be coupled tothe bobbin (110).

The third protrusion (111) may be formed by being protruded from anupper surface of bobbin (110). An upper surface of the third protrusion(111) may hit a lower surface of the cover member (300) to prevent aplastic deformation exceeding an elastic limitation of spring when anoutside shock is generated.

When an initial position of the bobbin (110) is set at a position wherethe bobbin (110) cannot descend any more, the auto focusing of bobbin(110) may be realized by a single direction control. That is, the autofocusing function may be implemented in a method where the bobbin (110)rises when a current supplied to the first coil (120) increases, and thebobbin (110) gradually descends to return to an initial position whenthe supplied current decreases.

However, when the initial position of bobbin (110) is so set as to havea discrete distance where the bobbin (110) can descend, the autofocusing of bobbin (110) may be implemented by bi-directional control.That is, the auto focusing function may be realized through an operationof upwardly or downwardly moving the bobbin (110) to a first direction.For example, when a forward current is applied, the bobbin (110) maymove upwardly and when a reverse current is applied, the bobbin (110)may downwardly move.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a housing (140) according to afirst exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The housing (140) may support a magnet (130) and may accommodate thereinthe bobbin (110) moving to the first direction. The housing (140) maygenerally take a hollow-holed pillar shape. For example, the housing(140) may be formed with a hollow hole of polygonal shape (e.g., squareor pentagon) or round shape. The housing (140) may include a secondupper support lug (143) and a fourth protrusion (144). The second uppersupport lug (143) is an area where the through hole formed at the upperelastic member (150) is coupled. The second upper support lug (143) maytake a cylindrical shape or other various shapes, and may guide theupper elastic member (150) to allow the upper elastic member (150) to becoupled to the housing (140).

The fourth protrusion (144) may be formed by protruding from an uppersurface of housing (140). The fourth protrusion (144) may perform afunction of stopping the cover member (300) and a body of housing (140).That is, an upper surface of the fourth protrusion (144) may be made tohit a lower surface of the cover member (300), when an outside shock isgenerated, to prevent the cover member (300) and the body of housing(140) from mutually and directly colliding. The housing (140) may beformed at a position corresponding to an area formed with a first width(W1) of the bobbin (110) with a third recess part (148). A surface ofthe third recess part (148) of the housing (140) facing the bobbin (110)may have a shape joined with the first width (W1), which is an areaprotrusively formed from the bobbin (110). At this time, the first width(W1) of the bobbin (110) illustrated in FIG. 3 and a second width (W2)of the third recess part (148) of housing (140) illustrated in FIG. 4may have a predetermined tolerance.

The bobbin (110) may be prevented from rotating relative to the housing(140) by allowing the third recess part (148) to be so disposed as tojoin the first width (W1) of the bobbin (110). As a result, the thirdrecess part (148) of the housing (140) may prevent the bobbin (110) fromrotating even if a force is received to allow the bobbin (110) to rotateabout an optical axis or an axis parallel with the optical axis.

Furthermore, a corner part of housing (140) may be formed with a secondrecess part (147). The support member (220) may pierce the second recesspart (147) to a first direction to be connected to the upper elasticmember (150). A pair of second recess parts (147) may be respectivelyformed at the corner part of housing (140), as illustrated in FIGS. 5and 6 . In an exemplary embodiment, the support member (220) may be sodisposed as to pierce any one of the pair of second recess parts (147)formed at one of the corner parts of housing (140).

In another exemplary embodiment, only one second recess part (147) maybe formed on each corner part of housing (140). For example, asillustrated in FIG. 6 , and when viewed from the paper, the secondrecess part (147) may be formed only on a left upper side pierced by thesupport member (220) in the corner part of the housing (140), and thesecond recess part (147) may not be formed on the right lower side. Inanother exemplary embodiment, the corner part of housing (140) may beformed with a through hole pierced by the support member (140) insteadof the second recess part (147). One pair of through holes or onethrough hole may be formed on the corner part of housing (140), as inthe second recess part (147).

Meantime, the housing (140) may be formed at a lower surface of a cornerarea of housing (140) with a lower support lug (not shown) in order tobe coupled with the lower elastic member (160). The lower support lugmay be formed in a shape corresponding to a position corresponding tothe upper support lug. However, the present invention is not limitedthereto. The housing (140) may be formed with a plurality of thirdstoppers (149) protruded from a lateral part of each side. The thirdstopper (149) may function to prevent the housing (140) from collidingwith the cover member (300) when the housing (140) moves to the secondand third directions.

FIG. 5 is a plane view removed of a cover member in FIG. 1 , and FIG. 6is an enlarged view of ‘A’ area in FIG. 5 . The support member (220) inthe exemplary embodiment may function as a lead wire electricallyconnecting the PCB (250) with the first coil (120). For example, bothdistal ends of the first coil (120) may be electrically connected to theupper elastic member (150), the upper elastic member (150) may beelectrically connected to the support member (220), the support member(220) may be electrically connected to the circuit member (231), and thecircuit member (231) may be electrically connected to the PCB (250) toallow the first coil (120) to be electrically connected to the PCB(250).

In another exemplary embodiment, the upper elastic member (150) may notbe electrically connected to the circuit member (231) and directlyconnected to the PCB (250) to allow the first coil (120) and the PCB(250) to be electrically connected.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 , a connection part between the support member(220) and the upper elastic member (150) may be formed at a corner ofthe housing (140). Furthermore, a connection part between the supportmember (220) and the upper elastic member (150) may be formed at acorner of the cover member (300).

At this time, as illustrated in FIG. 6 , a through hole inserted by thesupport member (220) may be formed at an area of upper elastic member(150) corresponding to an area disposed with the support member (220),the support member (220) and the through hole area are soldered afterthe support member (220) is inserted into the through hole, and then thesupport member (220) and the upper elastic member (150) may beelectrically connected.

At this time, one of two distal ends of the first coil (120) may be a(+) terminal and the other end may be a (−) terminal. Thus, by using twoends of four support members (220) in the exemplary embodiment, one maybe connected to the (+) terminal of first coil (120), and the other onemay be connected to the (−) terminal. In this case, the upper elasticmember (150) may be formed in a bifurcated structure lest the (+)terminal (120) and the (−) terminal of first coil (120) beshort-circuited. Alternatively, two support members (220) may beconnected to the (+) terminal of the first coil (120), and the remainingtwo support members (220) may be connected to the (−) terminal of firstcoil (120).

In another exemplary embodiment, when the first coil (120) is doublywound or provided in two pieces, the first coil (120) may have two (+)terminals and two (−) terminals. Thus, by using all four support members(220) in the exemplary embodiment, two support members (220) may beconnected to the (+) terminal of the first coil (120) and the remainingtwo support members (220) may be connected to the (−) terminal of thefirst coil (120). In this case, the upper elastic member (150) may beformed in a quadruplicated structure lest each terminal including the(+) terminals and the (−) terminals of first coil (120) beshort-circuited. A t this time, the electric resistance can be reducedby connecting in parallel the support members (220) with the samepolarity in the quadruplicated upper elastic member (150), and theelectromagnetic force generated from between the first coil (120) andthe first magnet can be increased by increasing the number of windingand by serially connecting the doubly wound first coil (120).

In still another exemplary embodiment, the PCB (250) and the first coil(120) may be electrically connected by using the support member (220)and the lower elastic member (160). That is, both ends of first coil(120) may be electrically connected to the lower elastic member (160),the lower elastic member (160) may be electrically connected to thesupport member (220), the support member (220) may be electricallyconnected to the circuit member (231), and the circuit member (231) maybe electrically connected to the PCB (250), whereby the first coil (120)and the PCB (250) may be electrically connected.

In this case, a structure similar to the above explanation on the upperelastic member (150) may be used.

In still another exemplary embodiment, a portion of distal ends of thefirst coil (120) may be electrically connected to the upper elasticmember (150), and remaining distal ends may be electrically connected tothe lower elastic member (160) to allow a current to be applied to thefirst coil (120) from the PCB (250). The first coil (120) may beelectrically connected to the PCB (250) through the upper elastic member(150), and/or the lower elastic member (160) and the support member(220). Thus, the first coil (120) may receive a current from theelectrically connected PCB (250) to perform an electromagneticinteraction with the first magnet (130), whereby the bobbin (110) can bemoved to the first direction, and the lens driving device can performthe auto focusing function.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 , each of the plurality of support members(220) may be respectively disposed around a corner of the upper elasticmember (150). At this time, the support member (220) may be connected tothe upper elastic member (150) at an area where an x direction lengthand a y direction length are mutually different about the corner of theupper elastic member (150).

The corner of the upper elastic member (150) may be an area of the upperelastic member (150) corresponding to a corner of the cover member(300). Furthermore, the x direction length may be a length measured tothe x direction from the corner of the upper elastic member (150) to thesupport member (220), and the y direction length may be a lengthmeasured to the y direction from the corner of upper elastic member(150) to the support member (220).

In other words, the plurality of support members (220) is respectivelydisposed about the corner of the cover member (300), and the supportmember (220) may be connected to the upper elastic member (150) at anarea (position) where each length measured from the corner of covermember (300) to the support member (220) to the x direction and the ydirection are mutually different. The arrangement position of thesupport member (220) will be explained in more detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 , the support member (220) may include afirst coupling part coupled to the upper elastic member (150).Furthermore, the first coupling part may be disposed on an upper side ofa corner of housing (140) formed between a first side surface and asecond side surface of housing (140). At this time, a distance betweenthe first coupling part and the first side surface of housing (140) maybe different from a distance between the first coupling part and thesecond side surface of the housing (140).

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating an arrangement of supportmember, circuit member and PCB according to a first exemplary embodimentof the present invention, FIG. 8 is a plane view of FIG. 7 , and FIG. 9is an enlarged view of ‘B’ area in FIG. 8 .

In an exemplary embodiment, the support member (220) may be inserted ata lower end into the circuit member (231) and coupled to the circuitmember (231) by being soldered, whereby the support member (220) and thecircuit member (231) can be electrically connected.

As illustrated in FIG. 9 , the circuit member (231) may be formed with athrough hole (231 a) inserted by the support member (220). In theexemplary embodiment, the support member (220) may be formed in a totalof four pieces, and the through hole (231 a) may be formed in the samenumber as the support member (220), that is, in a total number of fourpieces. In the exemplary embodiment, a lower end of the support member(220) may be inserted into the through hole (231 a), and the supportmember (220) and the circuit member (231) may be mutually soldered at anarea of the through hole (231 a), whereby the support member (220) andthe circuit member (231) may be mutually coupled and electricallyconnected.

Furthermore, mutual coupling and electrical connection between thecircuit member (231) and the support member (220) may enable the supportmember (220) and the PCB (250) to be electrically connected.Furthermore, in order to facilitate the soldering work between thesupport member (220) and the circuit member (231), an area of the PCB(250) corresponding to an area where the support member (220) isdisposed may be formed with an escape structure.

As illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 , the plurality of support members (220)is such that a first discrete distance (DL1) between the support members(220) perpendicular to a lengthwise direction of the terminal surface(253) may be formed to be shorter than a second discrete distance (DL2)between the support members (220) parallel with a lengthwise directionof the terminal surface (253). Thus, the terminal surface (253) in theexemplar embodiment may be formed in two pieces each disposed on anopposite side, and two terminal surfaces (253) may be disposed on a sidesurface of base (210). At this time, when the lens driving device isseen from an upper side, a third discrete distance (DL3) from a sidesurface of circuit member (231) at a side where the terminal surface(253) is disposed to the support member (220) may be formed to be longerthan a fourth discrete distance (DL4) from a side surface of the circuitmember (231) at a side where the terminal surface (253) is not formed tothe support member (220).

In other words, the terminal surface (253) in the exemplary embodimentmay be formed in two pieces at mutually symmetrical positions, and thethird discrete distance (DL3) from a side disposed with the terminalsurface (253) among each side of the circuit member (231) to the supportmember (220) may be formed to be longer than the fourth discretedistance from a side where the terminal surface (253) is not formed tothe support member (220). To put it differently, the circuit member(231) may take a square shape when viewed from the first direction, andthe plurality of support members (220) may be disposed on an area wherethe terminal surface (253) is not disposed among four pieces of supportmembers (220) divided by two diagonal lines (DA) on the circuit member(231) to allow passing through a center of the circuit member (231).

That is, the support member (220) may be disposed on an area notbelonged by the terminal surface (253) of the PCB (250) among the fourareas of the circuit member (231) divided by drawing a diagonal line(DA) including an optical axis from four corners of the circuit member(231). The circuit member (231) may be disposed with a second coil(230), and may be disposed with a circuit having a complex structure.Furthermore, the PCB (250) surface-contacting the circuit member (231)may be also disposed with a circuit having a complex structure.

Thus, it is proper that the support member (220) be disposed on a cornerpart between the circuit member (231) and the PCB (250), in order tofacilitate to dispose many complex structure, such as the circuit member(231), the PCB (250) and the second coil (230), i.e., in order toincrease the spatial utilization of PCB (250). However, when the supportmember (220) is disposed on a corner part of circuit member (231), andwhen an repetitive and continuous outside shocks are applied to the lensdriving device, the corner part may be applied with a stronger shockthan an inner area of the circuit member (231), whereby the supportmember (220) disposed on the corner part may be applied with a strongershock to thereby disconnect or damage the support member (220).

When the support member (220) is disconnected or damaged, the OISfunction of the lens driving device performed by elastic deformation ofthe support member (220) may be rendered to be impossible, orconversely, the support member (220) may be generated with anoscillation phenomenon of being greatly trembled. Thus, in order torestrict the support member (220) from being disconnected or damaged,the support member (220) may be required to be disposed on a positionmoved to an inner side from the corner part of circuit member (231).

Particularly, the terminal surface (253) directly exposed to the outsidemay be directly applied with an outside shock, and the shock applied tothe terminal surface (253) may be directly transferred to the circuitmember (232) connected thereto. Furthermore, when the PCB (250) is madeof a thin flexible material, the PCB (250) may be generated withdeformation such as bending due to shock applied to the terminal surface(253). When the deformation such as bending is repetitively andcontinuously generated on the PCB (250) due to repetitive and continuousoutside shock, this may cause a direct reason of disconnecting ordamaging the support member (220).

Thus, the disconnection or damage of support member (220) can berestricted by a design where the position of support member (220) on thecircuit member (231) is moved to an inside from a corner part of thecircuit member (231) and by moving from the terminal surface (253) to afar position. Meantime, a discrete distance from a side where theterminal surface (253) is not disposed among each side of the circuitmember (231) to the support member (220), i.e., the fourth discretedistance (DL4) illustrated in FIG. 4 is elongated to allow the positionof the support member (220) to be moved to an inside from the cornerpart of the circuit member (231) whereby the disconnection or damage ofthe support member (220) can be restricted. However, when the fourthdiscrete distance (DL4) is elongated, the support member (220) may begenerally concentrated to an inside of the circuit member (231), and inthis case, the spatial utilization of the second coil (230), the circuitmember (231) and the PCB (250) disposed with circuits of complexstructure may be reduced.

Because of this reason, the first discrete distance (DL1) may be shorterthan the second discrete distance (DL2), and the third discrete distance(DL3) may be longer than the fourth discrete distance (DL4), asillustrated in FIG. 8 . Furthermore, the support member (220), whenviewed from the paper of FIG. 8 , may be disposed on an upper area and alower area among the four areas formed by the diagonal lines (DA).

The support member (220) in the exemplary embodiment may be disposed onthe circuit member (231) in order to allow a discrete distance from aside where the terminal surface (253) is disposed among each side of thecircuit member (231) to be longer than a discrete distance from a sidewhere the terminal surface (253) is not disposed, whereby the supportmember (220) is prevented from being disconnected or damaged by theoutside shock.

Meantime, due to difference between the first discrete distance (DL1)and second discrete distance (DL2), a sensitivity of x axis direction,i.e., a sensitivity of first direction movement of housing (140) andbobbin (110) detected by a driver (not shown) controlling the OISoperation and a sensitivity of y axis direction, i.e., a sensitivity ofsecond direction, may become different. Thus, in order to compensate thesensitivity difference, there may be required a calibration of driverIC.

FIG. 10 is a planar view illustrating a PCB when viewed from an upperside according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10 , the PCB (250) may be formed with a plurality offirst terminals (250 a) and a plurality of second terminals (250 b). Atthis time, the first terminal (250 a) may be electrically connected tothe first coil (120) and the second terminal (250 b) may be electricallyconnected to the second coil (230). For example, the first coil (120)may be electrically connected to the support member (220), the supportmember (220) may be electrically connected to the circuit member (231)and the circuit member (231) may be electrically connected to the PCB(250), whereby the first coil (120) and the first terminal (250 a)formed on the PCB (250) may be mutually electrically connected.

At this time, for example, when one support member (220) is connectedwith a plurality of first terminals (250 a), the circuit member (231)may be formed with a bifurcated lead wire configured to connect the onesupport member (220) and the plurality of first terminals (250 a).Furthermore, for example, the circuit member (231) may be electricallyconnected to the PCB (250) whereby the second coil (230) formed on thePCB (250) and the second terminal (250 b) formed on the PCB (250) can bemutually and electrically connected. The reason of forming the firstterminal (250 a) and the second terminal (250 b) in a plural number isto prepare for damage to the PCB (250).

The first coil (120) and the second coil (230) may be electricallyconnected to an outside power source through the first terminal (250 a)and the second terminal (250 b) formed on the PCB (250) to receive acurrent from the outside power source. Meantime, the PCB (250) may bedamaged by improper assembly, outside shock and the like. When the PCB(250) is damaged, the first terminal (250 a) and the second terminal(250 b) formed on the PCB (250) may be also damaged, or the first coil(120) and the second coil (230) may be electrically disconnected fromoutside power, and as a result, the auto focusing or OIS function of thelens driving device may be greatly decreased.

Particularly, when the PCB (250) is formed with a thin and flexiblematerial, there is a high probability that the PCB (250) is damaged.Thus, it is necessary to prepare for damage to the PCB (250). In theexemplary embodiment, the PCB (250) may be formed with the firstterminal (250 a) and the second terminal (250 b) in a plural number toprepare for short-circuit caused by damage to the PCB (250) between thefirst coil (120) and the first terminal (250 a) or between the secondcoil (230) and the second terminal (250 b). That is, by forming thefirst terminal (250 a) and the second terminal (250 b) in a pluralnumber, even if a particular area of the PCB (250) is damaged to damagethe terminals on the particular area, coils can be maintained withoutside power through terminals formed on other areas.

Referring to FIG. 10 , the plurality of first terminals (250 a) may bemutually symmetrically formed based on a center of the PCB (250).Furthermore, the plurality of second terminals (250 b) may be mutuallysymmetrically formed based on a center of the PCB (250). That is, it maybe proper to dispose the first terminals (250 a) and the secondterminals (250 b) near a hollow hole area of the PCB (250) in order tofacilitate an easy electrical connection, and in this case, eachterminal may be maximally spaced apart from the PCB (250) by allowingthe first terminals (250 a) and the second terminals (250 b) to form apoint symmetry about a center of PCB (250). Thus, even if a particulararea of the PCB (250) is damaged, only the terminals disposed near tothe damaged area may be damaged and other terminals disposed far fromthe damaged area can escape the damage by allowing each terminal to bemaximally spaced apart from the PCB (250).

The first coil (120) and the second coil (230) may be such that onedistal end of both distal ends may be a (+) terminal and the other maybe a (−) terminal. Thus, the first terminals (250 a) and the secondterminals (250 b) may be formed with a (+) terminal and a (−) terminalin order to correspond to the (+) terminal and the (−) terminal of thefirst coil (120) and the second coil (230).

At this time, it is appropriate for the (+) terminals and the (−)terminals to be formed in the same number. Thus, the plurality of firstterminals (250 a) and the second terminals (250 b) may be formed withthe same number of (+) terminals and (−) terminals. The first terminal(250 a) may be connected to a relatively far-distanced first coil (120),and the second terminal (250 b) may be connected to a relativelynear-distanced first coil (120). Due to the positional difference, whenthe PCB (250) is damaged, the relatively far-distanced first terminal(250 a) and the first coil (120) may have a higher probability ofshort-circuit than the relatively near-distanced second terminal (250 b)and the second coil (230).

Thus, in order to effectively restrict short-circuits between coils andterminals caused by damage to the PCB (250), more number of firstterminals (250 a) may be disposed than that of second terminals (250 b).However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

Meantime, because each of the first terminals (250 a) and the secondterminals (250 b) is formed with the (+) terminal and the (−) terminals,the first terminals (250 a) and the second terminals (250 b) may beminimally formed with two (+) terminal and two (−) terminals.

In consideration of the foregoing statement, as illustrated in FIG. 10 ,the first terminal (250 a) may be formed with a total of six terminals,and the second terminal (250 b) may be formed with a total of fourterminals, for example. However, the present invention is not limitedthereto.

At this time, in light of the fact that the number of (+) terminals and(−) terminals are same in the terminals, the first terminal (250 a) maybe formed with a total of three (+) terminals and three (−) terminals,and the second terminal (250 b) may be formed with a total of two (+)terminals and two (−) terminals. However, the present invention is notlimited thereto.

The PCB (250) may include a lead wire pattern (255). The lead wirepattern (255) functions to connect the first terminal (250 a) or thesecond terminal (250 b) to a terminal (251) formed on the terminalsurface (253). The lead wire pattern (255) may include a first lead wirepattern (255 a) and a second lead wire pattern (255 b) in order toincrease the spatial utilization of PCB (250). The first lead wirepattern (255) may be formed at an upper surface of PCB (250), and thesecond lead wire pattern (255 b) may be formed at a lower surface of PCB(250).

The formation of lead wire pattern (255) on both the upper surface andthe lower surface of PCB (250) may increase the spatial utilization ofPCB (250) and facilitate the formation of lead wire patterns (255) onthe PCB (250) as well.

The terminal (251) in the exemplary embodiment that is connected tooutside power source may be formed on an upper surface of PCB (250), andthe second lead wire pattern (255 b) may be formed on a lower surface ofPCB (250). Thus, the PCB (250) may be formed with a via hole (VH)through which the second lead wire pattern (255 b) and the terminal(251) may be mutually electrically connected.

Because a plurality of first terminals (250 a) and second terminals (250b) are formed in the exemplary embodiment, the first coil (120) or thesecond coil (230) may be restricted from being disconnected with theoutside power source due to damage to the PCB (250).

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of FIG. 1 rotated about z axis, and FIG. 12is a schematic view illustrating a state where a lens driving apparatusand a holder member are coupled according to a first exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

A holder member (500) may be formed at a lower surface of base (210),and may be disposed with various elements including a driver IC and gyrosensor for controlling operations of lens driving device. The lensdriving device may be electrically connected to the holder member (500)by coupling the terminal (251) formed on the terminal surface (253) ofPCB (250) to a terminal (not shown) formed on the holder member (500).

The cover member (300) may include a first protrusion (310). The firstprotrusion (310) may be disposed on both sides of terminal surface (253)and may be protrusively formed to a lower surface of cover member (300).The first protrusion (310) may be coupled to the holder member (500) tofacilitate a soldering coupling and electric connection work between theterminal (252) of PCB (250) accommodated into the cover member (300) anda terminal of holder member (500).

That is, when the first protrusion (310) and the holder member (500) arecoupled, the terminal (251) of PCB (250) accommodated into the covermember (300) may be disposed on a position opposite to the terminal ofholder member (500) to thereby restrict the movement of PCB (250). Thus,because the movement of PCB (250) is restricted by the first protrusion(310), the soldering work between the terminal (251) and the terminalcan be easily performed.

At this time, the first protrusion (310) and the holder member (500) maybe coupled by a coupling agent (SD). The coupling agent (SD) may be anadhesive agent such as a solder, epoxy and the like. However, thepresent invention is not limited thereto.

The coupling work between the first protrusion (310) and the holdermember (500) may be implemented by an active alignment process, forexample, in order to allow the lens driving device to be adequatelyarranged to a designed position and a designed angle relative to theholder member (500).

The cover member (300) may include a second protrusion (320). The secondprotrusion (320) may be protrusively formed to a lower surface of thecover member (300) from a side where the terminal surface (253) is notformed in the PCB (250). The second protrusion (320) along with thefirst protrusion (310) may facilitate a soldering coupling and electricconnection work between the terminal (252) of PCB (250) and the terminalof holder member (500).

That is, the second protrusion (320) may be coupled with the base (210)to restrict the movement of base (210). When the movement of base (210)is restricted, the movement of PCB (250) coupled to the base (210) maybe also restricted. Hence, because the movement of PCB (250) isrestricted by the second protrusion (320), the soldering work betweenthe terminal (251) and the terminal can be easily performed.

In another exemplary embodiment, the second protrusion (320) may becoupled to the holder member (500) by soldering or adhesion using anadhesive agent. When the second protrusion (320) is coupled to theholder member (500), the terminal (251) of the PCB (250) accommodatedinto the cover member (300) may be disposed on a position opposite tothat of the terminal of holder member (500), and the movement of PCB(250) is restricted to allow an easy soldering work between the terminal(251) and the terminal.

The first protrusion (310) and the second protrusion (320) in theexemplary embodiment may restrict the movement of PCB (250) tofacilitate a soldering coupling and electric connection work between theterminal (251) of PCB (250) and the terminal of holder member (500).

Meantime, the lens driving device mentioned in the previous exemplaryembodiments may be used in various fields, such as camera module and thelike, for example. The camera module may be applicable to a mobiledevice such as a mobile phone, for example. The camera module in theexemplary embodiment may include a lens barrel, an image sensor (notshown). At this time, the lens barrel may include at least one sheet oflens transmitting an image to the image sensor. Furthermore, the cameramodule may further include an IR (Infrared) cut-off filter (not shown).The IR cut-off filter may serve to prevent a light of infrared rayregion from entering an image sensor. In this case, the IR cut-offfilter may be disposed on an area corresponding to that of image sensorat the base (210). In another exemplary embodiment, the IR cut-offfilter may be coupled to the holder member (500).

The base (210) may be disposed with a separate terminal member in orderto be electrically conductive with the PCB (250), and may be integrallyformed with the terminal using a surface electrode. Furthermore, whenthe lens driving device includes a separate substrate, there may be noneed of being disposed with a separate terminal.

Meantime, the base (210) may function as a sensor holder protecting theimage sensor, and in this case, a protrusion may be formed along a sidesurface of the base (210) to a lower side direction, which however isnot an essential element, and in another exemplary embodiment as shownin FIG. 12 , the holder member (500) may be disposed on a lower side ofbase (210), and an image sensor may be mounted on the holder member(500), whereby the holder member (500) can perform a function ofprotecting the image sensor.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating an optical instrumentaccording to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating an optical instrumentillustrated in FIG. 13 .

Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14 , an optical instrument (200A) may includea body (850), a wireless communication part (710), an A/V (Audio/Video)input part (720), a sensing part (740), an input/output part (750), amemory part (760), an interface part (770), a controller (780) and apower supply part (790).

A space formed by a front case (851) and a rear case (852) of body (850)may be contained with various electronic elements of optical instrument.The wireless communication part (710) may be formed by including abroadcasting reception module (711), a mobile communication module(712), a wireless internet module (713), a LAN module (714) and aposition information module (715), for example.

The A/V input part (720) is to input an audio signal or a video signaland may include a camera (721) and a microphone (722). The camera (721)may be a camera including the lens driving device (100). The sensingpart (740) may generate a sensing signal for controlling the operationof optical instrument (200A) by detecting a current state of the opticalinstrument (200A) such as opening/closing state of optical instrument(200A), a position of optical instrument (200A), presence or absence ofuser contact, azimuth of optical instrument (200A) andacceleration/deceleration of optical instrument (200A). Furthermore, thesensing part (740) may take care of sensing functions related to powersupply of power supply part (790) and coupling of outside devices to theinterface part (770).

The input/output part (750) is to generate an input or an output relatedto visual, audio or tactile matters. The input/output part (750) maygenerate an input data for controlling an operation of the opticalinstrument (200A), and may also display information processed by theoptical instrument (200A). The input/output part (750) may include a keypad part (730), a display module (751), an audio output module (752) anda touch screen panel (753). The key pad part (730) can generate an inputdata using a key pad input.

The display module (751) may include a plurality of pixels that changesin color according to an electric signal. The audio output module (752)may output audio data received from the wireless communication part(710) including a call signal reception, a communication mode, arecording mode, a voice recognition mode or a broadcasting receptionmode, or output an audio data stored in the memory part (760). The touchscreen panel (753) may convert changes in capacitance generated by auser touch relative to a particular region of touch screen.

The memory part (760) may store programs for processing and controllingthe controller (780), input/output data and images photographed by thecamera (721). The interface part (770) may receive data or power sourcefrom outside devices and transmit the same to each element inside of theoptical instrument (200A), or allow data inside the optical instrument(200A) to the outside devices.

The controller (780) may control an overall operation of opticalinstrument (200A). The controller (780) may include a panel controller(144) of a touch screen panel driving part illustrated in FIG. 1 , orperform a function of the panel controller (144). The controller (780)may be configured to include a multimedia module (781) for multimediareproduction. The controller (780) may perform a pattern recognitionprocessing capable of recognizing, as each character and image, awriting input or a graphic drawing input performed on a touch screen.

The power supply part (790) may supply an electric power necessary foroperating each element by receiving an outside power source or aninternal power source in response to control of the controller (780).

Hereinafter, a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention willbe described.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating a lens driving apparatusaccording to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 16 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a lens drivingapparatus according to a second exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

An OIS device applied to a small camera module in a mobile device suchas a smart phone or a tablet PC means a device configured to prevent aborder of an image photographed amid vibrations caused by a userhandshake when the image was photographed in a still motion from beingformed unclearly. Furthermore, an auto focusing device means a deviceconfigured to automatically capture a focus of an image of a subject onan image sensor (not shown).

The thus-mentioned OIS device and the auto focus device may be variablyconfigured, and in case of the present exemplary embodiment, the OISoperation or the auto focus operation may be implemented by moving anoptical module formed with a plurality of lenses to a first direction ora direction perpendicular to the first direction.

Referring to FIG. 16 , a lens driving device (1100) according to thesecond exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a moverand a stator. At this time, the mover may perform an auto focusingfunction of a lens. The mover may include a bobbin (1110) and a firstcoil (1120), and the stator may include a first magnet (1130), a housing(1140), an upper support member (1150) and a lower elastic member(1160).

The bobbin (1110) may be disposed on an inside of the housing (1140),and may be at an outer circumferential surface with a first coil (1120)disposed on an inside of the first magnet (1130), where the bobbin(1110) can reciprocally move to a first direction in an inner space ofthe housing by an electromagnetic interaction between the first magnet(1130) and the first coil (1120). The outer circumferential surface ofbobbin (1110) may be formed with a first coil (1120) to enable theelectromagnetic interaction with the first magnet (1130).

Furthermore, the bobbin (1110) may be elastically supported by the upperelastic member (1150) and the lower elastic member (1160) to perform theauto focusing function by moving to the first direction. The bobbin(1110) may include therein a lens barrel (not shown) mounted with atleast one lens. The lens barrel may be coupled to an inside of bobbin(1110) using various methods. For example, an inner circumferentialsurface of bobbin (1110) may be formed with a female screw thread and anouter circumferential surface of lens barrel may be formed with a malescrew thread corresponding to the female screw thread, where the lensbarrel can be coupled to the bobbin (1110) by screw-connection betweenthe female screw thread and the male screw thread.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the lensbarrel may be directly fixed to an inside of the bobbin (1110) usingother methods than the screw-connection method by not forming a screwthread on the inner circumferential surface of bobbin (1110).Alternatively, more than one sheet of lens may be integrally formed withthe bobbin (1110) without using a lens barrel.

The lens coupled to the lens barrel may be formed with one sheet, andtwo sheets or more than two sheets of lenses may be configured to forman optical system. The auto focusing function may be controlled by thedirection of current and/or an amount of current, and may be implementedby moving the bobbin (1110) to the first direction. For example, when aforward current is applied, the bobbin (1110) may be moved downwardlyfrom an initial position. Alternatively, a movement distance to onedirection from the initial position can be increased or decreased byadjusting an amount of current of one direction.

An upper surface and a lower surface of bobbin (1110) may beprotrusively formed with a plurality of upper support lugs and lowersupport lugs. The upper support lug may be formed in a cylindricalshape, or a prism shape to guide the upper elastic member (1150) wherebythe upper support lug may be coupled and fixed to the upper elasticmember (1150). The lower support lug may be also formed in a cylindricalshape, or a prism shape to guide the lower elastic member (1160) wherebythe lower support lug may be coupled and fixed to the lower elasticmember (1160).

At this time, the upper elastic member (1150) may be formed with athrough hole and/or a groove corresponding to the upper support lug, andthe lower elastic member (1160) may be formed with a through hole and/ora groove corresponding to the lower support lug. The each support lugand through hole and/or groove may be fixedly coupled using a thermalfusion or an adhesive member such as epoxy.

The housing (1140) may take a hollow hole pillar shape supporting thefirst magnet (1130) and may be substantially formed with a square shape.A side surface of housing (1140) may be formed by allowing the firstmagnet (1130) to be coupled thereto. Furthermore, as discussed above,the housing (1140) may be formed at an inside with a bobbin (1110)guided by the elastic members (1150, 1160) to move to the firstdirection.

The upper elastic member (1150) may be disposed on an upper side ofbobbin (1110), and the lower elastic member (1160) may be 3 disposed ona lower side of bobbin (1110). The upper elastic member (1150) and thelower elastic member (1160) may be coupled to the housing (1140) and thebobbin (1110), and the upper elastic member (1150) and the lower elasticmember (1160) may elastically support the up/down operation of bobbin(1110) to the first direction. The upper elastic member (1150) and thelower elastic member (1160) may be formed with a leaf spring.

The upper elastic member (1150) may be formed in a plural number, asillustrated in FIG. 16 . Through this multi-divided structure, eachdivided portion of upper elastic member (1150) may receive a mutuallydifferent polarity of current or power source, or may be a currenttransfer path. Alternatively, the lower elastic member (1160) may bealso formed with a multi-divided structure to be electrically connectedto the upper elastic member (1150).

Meantime, the upper elastic member (1150) and the lower elastic member(1160), the bobbin (1110) and the housing (1140) may be assembledthrough a bonding operation using thermal fusion and/or adhesive agent.

The base (1210) may be disposed on a lower surface of bobbin (1110), maybe generally provided in a square shape and may be arranged oraccommodated with a PCB (1250). A surface opposite to an area formedwith a terminal surface (1253) of the PCB (1250) may be formed with asupport groove with a size corresponding to that of the surface. Thesupport groove may be concavely formed inwardly at a predetermined depthfrom an outer circumferential surface of base (1210) to prevent an areaformed with the terminal surface (1253) from protruding to outside ormay adjust an amount of being protruded.

A support member (1220) may be arranged at a side surface of the housing(1140) to be spaced apart from the housing (1140), coupled at an upperside to the upper elastic member (1150), and coupled at a lower side tothe base (1210), the PCB (1250) or to the circuit member (1231) to allowthe bobbin (1110) and the housing (1140) to movably support to a seconddirection perpendicular to the first direction and/or to a thirddirection, and may be electrically connected to the first coil (1120).

The support member (1220) in the exemplary embodiment is disposed on anouter circumferential surface of a corner of housing (1140) with a pair,so that a total of eight (8) support members (1220) may be installed. Inanother exemplary embodiment, one support member (1220) may be installedat an outer circumferential surface of corner at the housing (1140), sothat a total of four (4) support members (1220) may be installed. Instill another exemplary embodiment, two each at two corners, one each attwo corners may be disposed so that a total of six (6) support members(1220) may be installed. Furthermore, depending on the case, a total ofseven (7) or a total of more than nine (9) support members (1220) may beinstalled.

Furthermore, the support member (1220) may be electrically connected tothe upper elastic member (1150). That is, for example, the upper elasticmember (1150) may be electrically connected to an area formed with athrough hole of the upper elastic member (1150). Furthermore, in lightof the fact that the support member (1220) is separately formed from theupper elastic member (1150), the support member (1220) and the upperelastic member (1150) may be electrically connected through soldering orwelding method. Thus, the upper elastic member (1150) can apply acurrent to the first coil (1120) through the electrically-connectedsupport member (1220).

The support member (1220) may be connected to the PCB (1250) through athrough hole formed at the circuit member (1231) and/or the PCB (1250).Alternatively, the support member (1220) may be electrically soldered toan area corresponding to the circuit member (1231) by not allowing athrough hole to be formed on the circuit member (1231) and/or the PCB(1250).

Meantime, although FIG. 16 has illustrated a linear support member(1220) as an exemplary embodiment, the present invention is not limitedthereto. That is, the support member (1220) may be formed in a shape ofa plate type member.

A second coil (1230) may perform the OIS function by moving the housingto the second and/or third direction through an electromagneticinteraction with the first magnet (1130). Here, the second and thirddirection may include not only x axis (or first direction), y axis (orsecond direction), but also a direction substantially near to the x andy axis direction. That is, with respect to the driving aspect in theexemplary embodiment, although the housing (1140) may move in parallelto the x axis and y axis direction, the housing (1140) may a bit slantlymove to the x and y axis direction while moving by being supported bythe support member (1220). Thus, there is a need of the first magnet(1130) being installed at a position corresponding to the second coil(1230).

The second coil (1230) may be so disposed as to face the first magnet(1130) fixed to the housing (1140). In one exemplary embodiment, thesecond coil (1230) may be disposed on an outside of the first magnet(1130). Alternatively, the second coil (1230) may be disposed on a lowerside of the first magnet (1130) by being spaced apart at a predetermineddistance.

The second coil (1230) according to the exemplary embodiment may beinstalled at four sides of circuit member (1231), a total of four (4)pieces. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, andtherefore, only two second coil (1230), one for second direction and onefor third direction, may be installed, and even four (4) pieces may beinstalled.

Alternatively, a total of six (6) pieces of second coil (1230) may beinstalled, one on a first side for second direction, two pieces on asecond side for second direction, one piece at a third side for thirddirection and two pieces at fourth side for third direction.Alternatively, in this case, the first side and the fourth side aremutually adjacent, and the second side and the third side may bemutually and adjacently located.

In the exemplary embodiment, the circuit member (1231) may be formedwith a circuit pattern in the shape of the second coil (1230), or may beformed at an upper surface with a separate second coil, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto, and the circuit member (1231) may bedirectly formed at an upper surface with a circuit pattern in the shapeof the second coil (1230). Alternatively, the second coil (1230) may beconfigured by winding a wire in the shape of a doughnut, or the secondcoil (1230) may be formed in the shape of an FP coil to allow beingelectrically connected to the PCB (1250).

The circuit member (1231) including the second coil (1230) may beinstalled or disposed on an upper surface of the PCB (1250) disposed onan upper surface of base (1210). However, the present invention is notlimited thereto, and the second coil (1230) may be tightly arranged withthe base (1210), may be arranged by being spaced apart at apredetermined distance, or may be separately formed on a substrate,where the substrate is stacked and connected onto the PCB (1250).

The PCB (1250) may be electrically connected to at least one of theupper elastic member (1150) and the lower elastic member (1160), may becoupled to an upper surface of base (1210), and as illustrated in FIG.16 , a through hole inserted by the support member (1220) may be formedat an area corresponding to a distal end of the support member (1220).Alternatively, instead of forming a through hole, the PCB (1250) may beelectrically connected and/or bonded to the support member.

The PCB (1250) may be arranged or formed with a terminal (1251), wherethe terminal (1251) may be arranged at the bent terminal surface (1253).The terminal surface (1253) may be arranged with a plurality ofterminals (1251) to receive an outside electric power whereby a currentmay be supplied to the first coil (1120) and/or to the second coil(1230). The number of terminals arranged on the terminal surface (1253)may be increased or decreased depending on the types of elementsnecessary for control. Furthermore, the PCB (1250) may be formed withone or two terminal surfaces (1253).

The cover member (1300) may be generally provided with a box shape, mayaccommodate the mover, the second coil (1230) and a portion or all ofthe PCB (1250), and may be coupled with the base (1210). Furthermore, aportion of cover member (1300) may be arranged at an upper side ofsupport member (1220).

The cover member (1300) may protect the mover accommodated therein, thesecond coil (1230) and the PCB (1250) from being damaged, and mayadditionally concentrate the electromagnetic field by restricting theelectromagnetic field generated from the first magnet (1130)accommodated therein, the first coil (1120) and the second coil (1230)from being leaked out.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of ‘A’ area in FIG. 15 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 17 , the cover member (1300) may be formed with anescape groove (13100). The escape groove (13100) may be concavely formedat a portion of the cover member (1300), i.e., at an area correspondingto the support member (1220) to the first direction, by allowing thecover member (1300) to be recessed to the first direction. The escapegroove (13100) may prevent the electric short-circuit generated bycontact between the support member (1220) and the cover member (1300).An upper surface of support member (1220) may be electrically connectedto the upper elastic member (1150). In order to secure the electricconnection, the lens driving device according to the exemplaryembodiment may further comprise a soldering part (14000) coupling theupper surface of support member (1220) and the upper elastic member(1150).

An upper end of the soldering part (14000) where a lower surface ofcover member (1300) is close to a discrete distance to the firstdirection may directly contact the cover member (1300) to allow thesupport member (1220) and the cover member (1300) to be electricallyconnected, thereby resulting in generation of electric short-circuit.The electric short-circuit may cause an operational problems in autofocusing and/or OIS function of lens driving device. For example, thebobbin (1110) that receives a current through the support member (1220)may be generated with an unwanted vibration because of short-circuit.Furthermore, a mechanical hysteresis may increase on the support member(1220), the bobbin (1110), the upper elastic member and the lowerelastic member due to short-circuit and the vibration of bobbin (1110).

As a result, the increased hysteresis can greatly decrease the autofocusing and/or OIS function of the lens driving device, whereby thefocus adjustment and OIS adjustment functions of camera module includingthe lens driving device may be greatly degraded to subsequently decreasethe quality of photographed image.

In the exemplary embodiment, the escape groove (13100) is formed toprevent the electric short-circuit between the cover member (1300) andthe support member (1220) whereby the abovementioned problems can besolved. In the exemplary embodiment, it would be appropriate that depthof the escape groove (13100) be determined in consideration of overallsize and structure of lens driving device. An upper end of the solderingpart (14000) may be disposed on a more upper side than the upper elasticmember (1150). Furthermore, for example, a first direction discretedistance (H) between an upper surface of the upper elastic member (1150)and the lower surface of cover member (1300) may be about 0.5 mm.However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

Meantime, in light of the trend that the discrete distance (H) is beingreduced as the manufacturing of super small camera module and the lensdriving device is on the increase, there may be a high probability ofthe upper end of soldering part (14000) and the lower surface of covermember (1300) being in contact. Thus, in consideration of the foregoingtrend, it may be required that the discrete distance (H) is designed tobe great, if possible, and depth of escape groove (13100) is determinedlest the upper end of soldering part (14000) and the lower surface ofcover member (1300) contact each other. Furthermore, it is alsoappropriate that the depth of escape groove (13100) be determined inconsideration of thickness of an area corresponding to the supportmember (1220) of the cover member (1300).

The escape groove (13100) may be formed by various methods. In theexemplary embodiment, the escape groove (13100) may be formed by amethod of etching the cover member (1300). In another exemplaryembodiment, the escape groove (13100) may be simultaneously formed whenthe cover member (1300) is manufactured through injection moldingprocess. In still another exemplary embodiment, the escape groove(13100) may be formed by pressing a portion of the cover member (1300).

For example, the cover member (1300) may be formed with SUS of nomagnetism or nickel silver material. The cover member (1300) may beformed with a thickness of 0.2 mm-0.3 mm in order to protect inner partsfrom outside shocks. At this time, it is appropriate that depth ofescape groove (13100) be more than 0.05 mm. However, this numericalvalue is merely an example, and the depth of escape groove and thethickness of cover member (1300) may be differently formed as mentionedabove.

In the exemplary embodiment, the escape groove (13100) formed on thecover member (1300) may prevent the electric short-circuit between thesupport member (1220) and the cover member (1300) to thereby prevent theoperational problem of lens driving device caused by short-circuit anddegraded quality of the photographed image.

FIG. 18 is a plane view removed of cover member in the lens drivingapparatus according to a second exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 19 is a bottom view illustrating a cover memberaccording to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 18 , the support member (1220) may be formed in ashape of a wire, and may be disposed in a plural number on a corner areaof the housing (1140). That is, a pair of wire-shaped support members isrespectively arranged on a corner area of housing (1140) in the lensdriving device according to an exemplary embodiment, and therefore, atotal of eight (8) support members (1220) may be arranged.

The support member (1220) may be coupled to the upper elastic member(1150) for electrical connection through the soldering part (14000).Thus, the escape groove (13100) may be formed on an area of the covermember (1300) corresponding to an area arranged with the support member(1220) and the soldering part (14000) to the first direction. That is,the escape groove (13100) may be formed in a plural number on the covermember (1300) at a position corresponding to the support member (1220)to the first direction. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 19 , the escapegroove (13100) may be respectively formed on a corner area of thesupport member (1220) in a total of four (4) pieces. Meantime, althoughFIG. 19 has illustrated the escape groove (1310) in a curved shape, thepresent invention is not limited thereto, and the escape groove (1310)may be formed in various shapes including a round shape, a semi-circleshape and a polygonal shape as long as a short-circuit between the covermember (1300) and the support member (1220) can be prevented.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view illustrating ‘A’ area of FIG. 15according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 20 , the lens driving device according to anotherexemplary embodiment of the present invention may further comprise aninsulation part (15000). The insulation part (15000) may be filled inthe escape groove (13100) and may be formed with an electricallyinsulating material. The insulation part (15000) may be filled in theescape groove (13100) to electrically insulate the support member (1220)and the cover member (1300) and to prevent the generation ofshort-circuit between the support member (1220) and the cover member(1300) even if the upper surface of soldering part (14000) and the lowersurface of the insulation part (15000) are brought into contact. At thistime, the insulation part (15000) may be formed with a polymer materialsuch as polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride and electrically insulatingepoxy adhesive agent.

Meantime, in another exemplary embodiment, albeit not being illustrated,an area contacted by an upper surface of soldering part (14000) in thelower surface of the cover member (1300) may be formed only with theinsulation part (15000) while not forming the escape groove (13100), sothat even if the upper surface of soldering part (14000) contacts thelower surface of insulation part (15000), the short-circuit between thecover member (1300) and the support member (1220) can be prevented byelectrically insulating the support member (1220) and the cover member(1300).

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view illustrating ‘A’ area of FIG. 15according to still another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 21 , the escape groove (13100) may be formed by onesurface, that is, a lower surface of the cover member (1300) beingrecessed while the other surface, that is, the upper surface of thecover member (1300) is protruded, and through this structure, the depthof escape groove (13100) can be further enlarged to more effectivelyprevent the electrical short-circuit between the cover member (1300) andthe support member (1220). The escape groove (13100) may be formed byinjection molding or rolling, for example. Furthermore, as illustratedin FIG. 21 , the escape groove (13100) may be filled with the insulationpart (15000) to more effectively prevent short-circuit.

FIG. 22 is an enlarged view illustrating ‘B’ area of FIG. 18 , and FIG.23 is a perspective view of FIG. 22 . The illustration of soldering part(14000) is omitted from FIGS. 22 and 23 in order to provide a clearexplanation. As illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23 , the lens driving deviceaccording to the exemplary embodiment may include a protrusion (11410).

The upper elastic member (1150) may include a soldering coupling part(11510) coupled to an upper surface of the housing (1140) and solderedto an upper surface of support member (1220). Furthermore, the housing(1140) may be formed at an upper surface with a protrusion (11410)protrusively formed at a position near to the soldering coupling part(11510).

Furthermore, as illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23 , the soldering couplingpart (11510) may be formed in a pair each pair spaced apart from theother, and the protrusion (11410) may be interposed between the pair ofsoldering coupling part (11510). The protrusion (11410) may preventplastic deformation of soldering coupling part (11510). The solderingcoupling part (11510) may be generated with the plastic deformation whenan outside power is applied in the course of the upper elastic member(1150) being coupled to an upper surface of housing (1140) andelectrically connected to the support member (1220). The solderingcoupling part (11510) is structurally weak to plastic deformationbecause of being arranged at a corner area of upper elastic member(1150), and the soldering coupling part (11510) may be performed withmany manual works of a worker including the soldering. Due to theabovementioned reasons, the soldering coupling part (11510) may begenerated with plastic deformation in the course of assembly of upperelastic member (1150). When the plastic deformation is generated on thesoldering coupling part (11510), the upper elastic member (1150) mayhave a shape different from design and the deformed upper elastic member(1150) may have a bad influence such as an erroneous operation or aninoperative performance.

Thus, the housing (1140) may be formed with the protrusion (11410) inorder to prevent the plastic deformation of soldering coupling part(11510) in the course of assembling the upper elastic member (1150).

As illustrated in FIG. 23 , the protrusion (11410) may be protruded tothe first direction. When a worker or an operator couples the upperelastic member (1150) to the housing (1140) and solders/couples thesoldering coupling part (11510) to the support member (1220), the workermay be restricted in a hand-using manual behavior of the solderingcoupling part (11510) because of the protrusion (11410). There is a highpossibility of the soldering coupling part (11510) being plasticallydeformed due to the hand-using behavior of soldering coupling part(11510), where the protrusion (11410) prevents the plastic deformationof soldering coupling part (11510) by restricting a worker's hand toreach or touch the soldering coupling part (11510) due to structure.

In the exemplary embodiment, the plastic deformation of solderingcoupling part (11510) that may be generated when the upper elasticmember (1150) is coupled to the housing (1140) can be prevented byforming the protrusion (11410) on the housing (1140). Meantime, the lensdriving device according to the abovementioned exemplary embodiment maybe used in various fields including camera module, for example. Thecamera module, for example, may be applied to mobile devices such asmobile phones and the like.

The camera module according to the exemplary embodiment may include alens barrel coupled to a bobbin (1110) and an image sensor (not shown).At this time, the lens barrel may include at least one sheet of lenstransmitting an image to the image sensor. Furthermore, the cameramodule may further include an IR cut-off filter. The IR cut-off filtermay function to cut off a light of IR region being incident on the imagesensor. In this case, an IR cut-off filter may be installed at aposition corresponding to the image sensor in the base (1210)exemplified in FIG. 16 , and may be coupled to a holder member (notshown). Furthermore, the holder member may support a lower side of base(1210). The base (1210) may be installed with a separate terminal memberfor electric conduction with the PCB (1250), and may integrally form aterminal using a surface electrode. Furthermore, when the lens drivingdevice includes a separate substrate, a separate terminal may bedispensed with.

Meantime, the base (1210) can perform a sensor holder functionprotecting an image sensor, and in this case, a protruding area may beformed to a downward direction along a side surface of base (1210).However, the protruding area is not an essential element, and albeit notbeing illustrated, a separate sensor holder may be disposed on a lowersurface of base (1210) to perform the role of the protruding area.

Hereinafter, an optical apparatus according to a third exemplaryembodiment of the present invention will be described.

The optical apparatus may be a hand phone, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a portable smart device, a digital camera, a notebook computer(laptop computer), a PMP (Portable Multimedia Player) and a navigationdevice. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and mayinclude any device capable of photographing an image or a photograph.

The optical apparatus may include a main body (not shown), a cameramodule and a display part (not shown). However, any one or more of themain body, the camera module and the display part may be omitted orchanged.

The main body may form an exterior look of an optical apparatus. Forexample, the main body may include a look of a cubic shape. For anotherexample, the main body may be formed in a round shape on at least someportions thereof. The main body may accommodate a camera module. Themain body may be arranged at one surface with a display part. Forexample, the display part and the camera module may be disposed on onesurface of the main body and a camera module may be additionallydisposed on the other surface (surface opposite to the one surface) ofmain body.

The camera module may be disposed on the main body. The camera modulemay be disposed on one surface of the main body. At least some portionsof the camera module may be accommodated into the main body. The cameramodule may be formed in a plural number. The plurality of camera modulesmay be respectively disposed on one surface of the main body and theother surface of the main body. The camera module may photograph animage of a subject.

The display part may be disposed on the main body. The display part maybe disposed on one surface of main body. That is, the display part maybe arranged on a same surface as that of the camera module.Alternatively, the display part may be disposed on the other surface ofmain body. The display part may be disposed on a surface on the mainbody opposite to a surface arranged with the camera module. The displaypart may output an image photographed by the camera module.

Now, configuration of camera module according to a third exemplaryembodiment of the present invention will be described.

The camera module may include a lens driving device (not shown), a lensmodule (not shown), an IR (Infrared) cut-off filter (not shown), a PCB(2800), an image sensor (not shown), and a controller (not shown).

The lens module may include a lens and a lens barrel. The lens modulemay include one or more lenses (not shown) and a lens barrelaccommodating one or more lenses. However, one element of the lensmodule is not limited by the lens barrel, and any holder structurecapable of supporting one or more lenses will suffice. The lens modulemay move along with the lens driving device by being coupled to the lensdriving device, The lens module may be coupled to an inside of the lensdriving device, for example. The lens module may be screw-coupled withthe lens driving device, for example. The lens module may be coupled tothe lens driving device using an adhesive (not shown), for example.Meantime, a light having passed the lens module may be irradiated on animage sensor.

The IR cut-off filter may serve to prevent a light of infrared rayregion from entering an image sensor. The IR cut-off filter may beinterposed between a lens module and an image sensor, for example. TheIR cut-off filter may be disposed on a holder member (not shown)separately formed independent from a base (2500). However, the IRcut-off filter may be installed at a hollow hole (2510) formed at acenter of the base (2500). The IR cut-off filter may be formed with afilm material or a glass material. The IR cut-off filter may be formedby allowing an IR cut-off coating material to be coated on aplate-shaped optical filter such as an imaging plane protection coverglass or a cover glass, for example.

The PCB (2800) may support the lens driving device. The PCB (2800) maybe mounted with an image sensor. For example, the PCB (2800) may bedisposed on an upper inner side with an image sensor and may be disposedon an upper outer side with a sensor holder (not shown). An upper sideof sensor holder may be disposed with the lens driving device.Alternatively, the PCB (2800) may be disposed on an upper outer sidewith the lens driving device and may be disposed on an upper inner sidewith an image senor.

Through this configuration, a light having passed the lens modulecoupled accommodated at an inside of the lens driving device may beirradiated on the image sensor mounted on the PCB. The PCB may supply anelectric power to the lens driving device. Meantime, the PCB may bedisposed with a controller for controlling the lens driving device.

The image sensor may be mounted on the PCB (2800). The image sensor maybe so disposed as to match the lens module in terms of optical axis,through which the image sensor can obtain a light having passed the lensmodule. The image sensor may output the irradiated light in an image.The image sensor may be any one of a CCD (charge coupled device), an MOS(metal oxide semi-conductor), a CPD and a CID, for example. However, thetypes of image sensor are not limited thereto.

The controller may be mounted on a PCB (2800). The controller may bedisposed on an outside of the lens driving device. However, thecontroller may be also disposed on an inside of the lens driving device.The controller may individually control a direction, intensity and anamplitude of a current supplied to each element forming the lens drivingdevice. The controller may perform any one of an AF function and an OISfunction of the camera module by controlling the lens driving device.That is, the controller may move the lens module to an optical axisdirection or tilt the lens module to a direction orthogonal to theoptical axis direction by controlling the lens driving device.Furthermore, the controller may perform any one or more feedbackcontrols in the AF function and OIS function. To be more specific, thecontroller may perform a more accurate auto focusing and OIS functionsby receiving a position of bobbin (2210) or housing (2310) detected by asensor part and by controlling a power or a current applied to the AFdriving coil part (2220).

Hereinafter, configuration of lens driving device according to the thirdexemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view illustrating a lens driving apparatusaccording to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention, FIG.25 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a lens driving apparatusaccording to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention, FIG.26 is a perspective view illustrating a cover member of a lens drivingapparatus according to a third exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, FIG. 27 is an exploded perspective view illustrating someelements of a lens driving apparatus according to a third exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, FIG. 28 is a conceptual viewillustrating some elements (a) of a lens driving apparatus according toa third exemplary embodiment of the present invention and some elements(b) of a lens driving apparatus according to a modification of thepresent invention and FIG. 29 is a perspective view illustrating a statewhere a lens driving apparatus according to a third exemplary embodimentof the present invention is coupled to a PCB of camera module.

The lens driving device may include a cover member (2100), a first mover(2200), a second mover (2300), a stator (2400), a base (2500), a supportmember (2600) and a sensor part. However, the lens driving deviceaccording to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may omitany one of the cover member (2100), the first mover (2200), the secondmover (2300), the stator (2400), the base (2500), the support member(2600) and the sensor part.

The cover member (2100) may accommodate at an inner space a housing(2310) and a bobbin (2210). The cover member (2100) may be coupled tothe base (2500). The cover member (2100) may form an exterior look oflens driving device. The cover member (2100) may take a bottom-openedcubic shape. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The cover member (2100) may be formed with a metal material, forexample. To be more specific, the cover member (2100) may be formed witha metal plate.

In this case, the cover member (2100) may shield an EMI (ElectromagneticInterference). Because of this characteristic in the cover member(2100), the cover member (2100) may be called an “EMI shield can”. Thecover member (2100) may prevent electric waves generated from outside ofthe lens driving device from entering an inside of the cover member(2100). Furthermore, the cover member (2100) may prevent the electricwaves generated from inside of the cover member (2100) from beingemitted to outside of the cover member (2100). However, the material ofcover member (2100) is not limited thereto.

The cover member (2100) may include an upper plate (2110), a lateralplate (2120) and a round part (2130). The cover member (2100) mayinclude a lateral plate (2102) coupled to the base (2500) at a lowerend. The cover member (2100) may include an upper plate (2110) disposedon an upper side of housing (2310). The cover member (2100) may includea round part (2130) roundly connecting the lateral plate (2120) and theupper plate (2110). A lower end of the lateral plate (2120) at the covermember (2100) may be mounted on the base (2500). An inner lateralsurface of the cover member (2100) may be tightly adhered to a partialor all of a lateral surface at the base (2500) to be mounted on the base(2500). An inner space formed between the cover member (2100) and thebase (2500) may be disposed with the first mover (2200), the secondmover (2300), the stator (2400) and the support member (2600). Throughthis structure, the cover member (2100) can protect inner elements fromexternal shocks and simultaneously prevent introduction of externalforeign objects. However, the present invention is not limited thereto,and a lower end of the lateral plate (2120) at the cover member (2100)may be directly coupled to the PCB (2800) disposed on a lower side ofbase (2500).

The cover member (2100) may include an opening (2140) exposing the lensmodule by being formed on the upper plate (2110). The opening (2140) maybe formed in a shape corresponding to that of the lens module. The sizeof opening (2140) may be formed greater than that of a diameter of thelens module in order to allow the lens module to be assembled throughthe opening (2140). Meantime, a light introduced through the opening(2140) may pass through the lens module. At this time, the light havingpassed the lens module may be obtained by the image sensor as an image.

The cover member (2100) may be coupled to a base (2500). The covermember (2100) may form an inner space with the base (2500). The covermember (2100) may include a metal material. The cover member (2100)including the metal material may perform an EMI shield function.

The lateral plate (2120) of cover member (2100) may include continuouslyadjacent first to fourth lateral plates (2121, 2122, 2123, 2124). Thefirst lateral plate (2121) may be interposed between the fourth lateralplate (2124) and the second lateral plate (2122). The second lateralplate (2122) may be interposed between the first lateral plate (2121)and the third lateral plate (2123). The third lateral plate (2123) maybe interposed between the second lateral plate (2122) and the fourthlateral plate (2124). The fourth lateral plate (2124) may be interposedbetween the third lateral plate (2123) and the first lateral plate(2121).

The cover member (2100) may be formed with a first erroneous insertionprevention part (not shown). The first erroneous insertion preventionpart may be formed at a lower end of cover member (2100). The firsterroneous insertion prevention part may be coupled to a second erroneousinsertion prevention part formed at the base (2500). The first erroneousinsertion prevention part may be fitted to the second erroneousinsertion prevention part formed at the base (2500). The first erroneousinsertion prevention part may have a shape that is not correspondingbased on a center of cover member (2100). Through this structuralcharacteristic, the lens driving device according to the exemplaryembodiment of the present invention may prevent an erroneous insertionof cover member (2100).

That is, in the lens driving device according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention, and in case the cover member (2100) isinserted with an erroneous directivity of the cover member (2100), theinsertion itself of cover member (2100) to the base (2500) cannot berealized because of the first erroneous insertion prevention part ofcover member (2100) and the second erroneous insertion prevention partof base (2500). The first erroneous insertion prevention part mayinclude a protrusion (2150) protruding downwardly from the lower end ofthe cover member (2100).

The protrusion (2150) may protrude downwardly from the lower end of thecover member (2100). The protrusion (2150) may include a first lug(2151) formed at a first lateral plate (2121) of cover member (2100).The protrusion (2150) may include a second lug (2152) formed on a thirdlateral plate (2123) of cover member (2100). At this time, the firstlateral plate (2121) and the third lateral plate (2123) may be sodisposed as to face each other. The first lateral plate (2121) and thethird lateral plate (2123) may not be symmetrical about a center ofcover member (2100). Through this structure, the first lateral plate(2121) and the third lateral plate (2123) can be inserted into areception part (2550) only when the cover member (2100) is inserted intothe base (2500) to a designated direction.

The first erroneous insertion prevention part may include a recess part(2160) recessed upwardly from a lower end of cover member (2100). Therecess part (2160) may not be symmetrical about a center of cover member(2100). The recess part (2160) may be disposed with an insertion part(2560) of base (2500). That is, the recess part (2160) can accommodatethe insertion part (2560) of base (2500). However, in a modification,the protrusion (2150) protruded downwardly from the lower side of recesspart (2160) of cover member (2100) may be replaced with an additionalrecess part (not shown) recessed upwardly from the recess part (2160).

The cover member (2100) may include a support part (2170, 2180)adjacently disposed to a terminal part (2412, 2413) of substrate (2410).The support part (2170, 2180) may prevent the lens driving deviceaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention from beingdamaged by a force pressing from an upper side when the opticalinstrument is assembled.

The cover member (2100) may include a first support part (2170) extendeddownwardly from one side of lateral plate (2120) of cover member (2100)corresponding to one side of substrate (2410). At this time, the lateralplate (2120) at one side of cover member (2100) corresponding to oneside of substrate (2410) may be a second lateral plate (22122). Thecover member (2100) may include a second support part (2180) extendeddownwardly from the other side of lateral plate (2120) of cover member(2100) corresponding to the other side of substrate (2410). At thistime, the other side of lateral plate (2120) of cover member (2100)corresponding to the other side of substrate (2410) may be a fourthlateral plate (2124).

The lower end of first support part (2170) and second support part(2180) may correspond to a lower end of the first terminal part (2412)and the second terminal part (2413), or may be disposed lower than alower end of the first terminal part (2412) and the second terminal part(2413). Through this structure, the terminal part (2412, 2413) ofsubstrate (2410) may be prevented from being damaged when the covermember (2100) is pressed from an upper side to a lower side when theoptical instrument is assembled.

The cover member (2100) may include a support part (2170, 2180) extendeddownwardly from a lower side of lateral plate (2120). The cover member(2100) may include a support part (2170, 2180) extended over a lower endof terminal part (2412, 2413) of substrate (2410) disposed on the base(2500) downwardly from a lateral plate of cover member (2100). At thistime, the lower end of support part (2170, 2180) may correspond to, ormay be disposed on a lower side than a lower surface of base (2500).Furthermore, the lower end of support part (2170, 2180) may correspondto, or may be disposed on a lower side than the lower end of theterminal part (2412, 2413).

The support part (2170, 2180) may be coupled with a PCB (2800) using acoupling member (2900). The support part (2170, 2180) may be coupled tothe PCB (2800) by soldering. Furthermore, the support part (2170, 2180)may be fixed to the PCB (2800) by an active alignment bond. In thiscase, the active alignment bond is adhered to a lower surface of base(2500) and to the support part (2170, 2180) as well, such that theactive alignment can be easily implemented. Here, the active alignmentmeans an actual hardening (curing) work after temporary curing of lensdriving device to the PCB (2800) using an adhesive agent in order toadjust an optical axis of lens module coupled to the image sensormounted on the PCB (2800) and to the bobbin (2210).

The support part (2170, 2180) may include a first support part (2170)disposed on the second lateral plate (2122) of cover member (2100), anda second support part (2180) disposed on the fourth lateral plate (2124)of cover member (2100). The first support part (2170) may include afirst support lug (2171) and a second support lug (2172) each spacedapart from the first terminal part (2412) to both sides of longer sideof first terminal part (2412). The second support part (2180) mayinclude a third support lug (2181) and a fourth support lug (2182) eachspaced apart from the second terminal part (2413) to both sides oflonger side of second terminal part (2413).

The first support lug (2171) and the third support lug (2181) may besymmetrically formed about a center of cover member (2100). The secondsupport lug (2172) and the fourth support lug (2182) may besymmetrically formed about a center of cover member (2100).

The cover member (2100) may be formed with a direction indicationmarking (2190) exposed to outside. The direction indication marking(2190) may be exposed to outside by being formed on the cover member(2100). At this time, the direction indication marking (2190) may belopsidedly disposed on the upper plate (2110) of cover member (2100) toone side. Through this structure, a worker can easily recognize thedirectivity of lens driving device coupled by the cover member (2100) byascertaining and checking the direction indication marking (2190). Thedirection indication marking (2190) may be formed in the shape of athrough hole passing through the cover member (2100).

The first mover (2200) may include a bobbin (2210) and an AF coil part(2220). The first mover (2200) may include a bobbin (2210) coupled withthe lens module. The first mover (2200) may include an AF coil part(2220) disposed on the bobbin (2210) and moving by an electromagneticinteraction with the bobbin (2210).

The bobbin (2210) may be accommodated into an inner space of covermember (2100). The bobbin (2210) may be coupled with the lens module. Tobe more specific, an inner circumferential surface of bobbin (2210) maybe coupled with an outer circumferential surface of lens module. Thebobbin (2210) may be disposed with an AF coil part (2220). The bobbin(2210) may be coupled by an AF coil part (2220). An upper surface ofbobbin (2210) may be coupled by an upper support member (2610). Thebobbin (2210) may be disposed on an inside of housing (2310). The bobbin(2210) may relatively move to the housing (2310) to an optical axisdirection.

The bobbin (2210) may include a lens reception part (2211), a firstdriving coupling part (2212), an upper coupling part (2213), a lowercoupling part (not shown) and a lug (2215). The bobbin (2210) may beformed at an inside with an upper/lower opened lens reception part(2211). The bobbin (2210) may include a lens reception part (2211)formed thereinside. The lens reception part (2211) may be coupled by thelens module. The lens reception part (2211) may be formed at an innercircumferential surface with a screw thread having a corresponding shapeto a screw thread formed at an outer circumferential surface of the lensmodule. That is, the lens reception part (2211) may be screw-connectedto the lens module. An adhesive agent may be interposed between the lensmodule and the bobbin (2210). At this time, the adhesive agent may be anepoxy that is cured by UV or heat. That is, the lens module and thebobbin (2210) may be adhered by an UV curing epoxy and/or heat curingepoxy.

The bobbin (2210) may include a first driving coupling part (2212)disposed by an AF coil part (2220). The first driving coupling part(2212) may be integrally formed with an outside of the bobbin (2210).Furthermore, the first driving coupling part (2212) may be continuouslyformed along the outside of the bobbin (2210) or spaced apart from theoutside of bobbin (2210) at a predetermined distance. For example, thefirst driving coupling part (2212) may be formed by allowing a portionof the outside of bobbin (2210) to be recessed in a shape correspondingto that of the AF coil part (2220). At this time, the AF coil part(2220) may be directly wound on the first driving coupling part (2212).In a modification, the first driving coupling part (2212) may be formedin an upper/bottom opened shape. At this time, the AF coil part (2220)may be inserted into and coupled with the first driving coupling part(2212) through a portion opened in a pre-wound state.

The bobbin (2210) may include an upper coupling part (2213) coupled withthe upper support member (2610). The upper coupling part (2213) may becoupled with an inside part (2612) of upper support member (2610). Forexample, a lug (not shown) of the upper coupling part (2213) may becoupled by being inserted into a groove or a hole (not shown) of theinside part (2612) of upper support member (2610). At this time, the lugof upper coupling part (2313) may fix the upper support member (2610) bybeing heat-fused in a state of being inserted into the hole of insidepart (2612).

The bobbin may include a lower coupling part coupled with the lowersupport member (2620). The lower coupling part may be coupled with theinside part (2622) of lower support member (2620). For example, a lug(not shown) of the lower coupling part may be coupled by being insertedinto a groove or a hole (not shown) of an inside part (2622) of lowersupport member (2620). At this time, the lug of lower coupling part mayfix the lower support member (2620) by being heat-fused in a state ofbeing inserted into the hole of inside part (2622).

The AF coil part (2220) may be wound on an outside of bobbin (2210) bybeing guided to the first driving coupling part (2212). Furthermore, inanother exemplary embodiment, the AF coil part (2220) may be such thatfour coils are independently disposed on an outer peripheral surface ofbobbin (210) to allow two adjacent coils to form a 90°. The AF coil part(2220) may face a driving magnet (2320). The AF coil part (2220) may beso disposed as to electromagnetically interact with the driving magnet(2320). The AF driving part (2220) may move the bobbin (2210) relativeto the housing (2310) through the electromagnetic interaction with thedriving magnet (2320).

The AF driving coil (2220) may include a pair of lead cables (not shown)in order to supply a power. At this time, the pair of lead cables on theAF driving coil (2220) may be electrically coupled to a pair of uppersupport members (2610). That is, the AF coil part (2220) may receive anelectric power through the upper support member (2610). Through thisstructure, when an electric power is supplied to the AF coil part(2220), an electromagnetic field may be formed about the AF coil part(2220).

The second mover (2300) may move for OIS function. The second mover(2300) may be so formed at an outside of the first mover (2200) as toface the first mover (2200). The second mover (2300) may move the firstmover (2200) or move along with the first mover (2200). The second mover(2300) may be movably supported by a stator (2400) disposed thereunderand/or base (2500). The second mover (2300) may be disposed on an innerspace of the cover member (2100). The second mover (2300) may include ahousing (2310) and a driving magnet (2320). The second mover (2300) mayinclude a housing (2310) disposed on an outside of bobbin (2210).Furthermore, the second mover (2300) may include a driving magnet (2320)facing the AF coil part (2220) and fixed to the housing (2310). At leastone portion of housing (2310) may take a shape corresponding to that ofan inner surface of the cover member (2100). Particularly, an outside ofhousing (2310) may be formed in a shape corresponding to that of aninside of a lateral plate (22120) of cover member (2100). The housing(2310) may take a cubic shape including four lateral surfaces, forexample. However, the housing (2310) may take any shape that can bedisposed on an inside of the cover member (2100). The housing (2310) maybe formed in an injection-molded article in consideration ofproductivity.

The housing (2310) may be disposed on an outside of bobbin (2210). Thehousing (2310) may be disposed on the bobbin (2210). The housing (2310)may be disposed on an upper side of base (2500). The housing (2310) is aportion moving for OIS driving and may be spaced apart from the covermember (2100) at a predetermined distance. However, in an AF model, thehousing (2310) may be fixed onto the base (2500). Alternatively, in anAF model, an upper support member (2610) may be coupled to an uppersurface of housing (2310). The housing (2310) may include an inner space(2311), a second driving coupling part (2312), an upper coupling part(2313) and a lower coupling part (not shown).

The housing (2310) may be upper/lower side-opened to movably andhorizontally accommodate the first mover (2200). The housing (2310) maybe formed at an inside with an upper/lower side-opened inner space(2311). The inner space (2311) may be movably disposed with the bobbin(2210). That is, the inner space (2311) may be formed in a shapecorresponding to that of bobbin (2210). Furthermore, an inner surface ofhousing (2310) forming the inner space (2311) may be spaced apart froman outside of bobbin (2210).

The housing (2310) may include a second driving coupling part (2312)formed at a lateral surface in a shape corresponding to that of drivingmagnet (2320) to accommodate the driving magnet (2320). The seconddriving coupling part (2312) may fix the driving magnet (2320) byaccommodating the driving magnet (2320). The driving magnet (2320) maybe adhered to the second driving coupling part (2312) using an adhesiveagent (not shown). Meantime, the second driving coupling part (2312) maybe disposed on an inner circumferential surface of housing (2310). Inthis case, there is an advantage to an electromagnetic interaction withthe AF coil part (2220) disposed on an inside of the driving magnet(2320). In this case, an electromagnetic interaction between an OIS coilpart (2420) disposed on a lower side of driving magnet (2320) and adriving magnet (2320) may be advantageously conducted. The seconddriving coupling part (2312) may be formed in four (4) pieces, forexample. Each of the four second driving coupling part (2312) may becoupled by a driving magnet (2320).

The housing (2310) may include an upper coupling part (2313) coupledwith the upper support member (2610). The upper coupling part (2313) maybe coupled with an outside (2611) of upper support member (2610). Forexample, a lug of the upper coupling part (2313) may be coupled by beinginserted into a groove or a hole (not shown) of the outside (2611) ofupper support member (2610). At this time, the lug of upper couplingpart (2313) may fix the upper support member (2610) by being heat fusedin a state of being inserted into the hole of the outside (2611).

The housing (2310) may include a lower coupling part coupled with thelower support member (2620). The lower coupling part may be coupled withthe outside (2621) of lower support member (2620). For example, a lug ofthe lower coupling part may be coupled by being inserted into a grooveor a hole (not shown) of an outside (2621) of lower support member(2620). At this time, the lug of lower coupling part may fix the lowersupport member (2620) by being heat fused in a state of being insertedinto the hole of the outside (2621).

The driving magnet (2320) may be accommodated into an inner space of thecover member (2100). The driving magnet (2320) may face the AF coil part(2220). The driving magnet (2320) may move the AF coil part (2220)through an electromagnetic interaction with the AF coil part (2220). Thedriving magnet (2320) may be disposed on the housing (2310). The drivingmagnet (2320) may be fixed to the second driving coupling part (2312) ofhousing (2310). The driving magnet (2320) may be disposed on the housing(2310) so that four coils are independently disposed to allow twoadjacent magnets to form a 90°. That is, the driving magnet (2320) maypromote an efficient use of inner volume through the magnets mounted atan equidistance at four lateral surfaces of housing (2310). Furthermore,the driving magnet (2320) may be adhered to the housing (2310) using anadhesive agent.

The stator (2400) may include a substrate (2410) and an OIS coil part(2420), for example. The stator (2400) may include a substrate (2410)interposed between the OIS coil part (2420) and the base (2500).Furthermore, the stator (2400) may include an OIS coil part (2420)facing the driving magnet (2320).

The substrate (2410) may include a flexible PCB, which is an FPCB. Thesubstrate (2410) may be interposed between the base (2500) and thehousing (2310). The substrate (2410) may be interposed between the OIScoil part (2420) and the base (2500). The substrate (2410) may supply anelectric power to the OIS coil part (2420). The substrate (2410) maysupply an electric power to the AF coil part (2220). For example, thesubstrate (2410) may supply an electric power to the AF coil part (2220)through a lateral support member (2630) and the upper support member(2610). Furthermore, the substrate (2410) may supply an electric powerto an AF sensor part through the lateral support member (2630) and theupper support member (2610).

The substrate (2410) may include a body part *2411), a first terminalpart (2412), a second terminal part (2413), a ground pad part (2414) anda through hole (2415). The substrate (2410) may include a body part(2411). The substrate (2410) may include a first terminal part (2412)extended from one side of body part (2411) to be downwardly bent. Thesubstrate (2410) may include a second terminal part (2413) extended fromthe other side of body part (2411) to be downwardly bent.

At this time, any one of the first and second terminal parts (2412,2413) may be used for input of electric power to the lens driving deviceand the other one may be used for Hall input/output of sensor part. Atthis time, the first and second terminal parts (2412, 2413) may bedisposed on a mutually opposite side. Through this structure, the lensdriving device is not normally operated when the first and secondterminal parts (2412, 2413) are adversely coupled. That is, the lensdriving device according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention can minimize a mistake where a worker adversely couple thefirst and second terminal parts (2412, 2413) to the PCB (2800) becausethere is a direction indication marking (2190) on the cover member(2100) that is exposed to an outside, so that the cover member (2100)can be coupled to the base (2500) only in a pre-set posture.

The substrate (2410) may be formed with a ground pad part (2414)contacting the protrusion (2150). The ground pad part (2414) may beformed on the substrate (2410). The ground pad part (2414) may be incontact with the protrusion (2150) of cover member (2100). Through thisstructure, the cover member (2100) may be grounded. The cover member(2100) can shield the EMI. The substrate (2410) may include a throughhole (2411) passing a light having passed the lens module.

The OIS coil part (2420) may move the driving magnet (2320) through theelectromagnetic interaction. The OIS coil part (2420) may be disposed onthe substrate (2410). The OIS coil part (2420) may be interposed betweenthe base (2500) and the housing (2310). The OIS coil part (2420) mayface the driving magnet (2320). When an electric power is applied to theOIS coil part (2420), the driving magnet (2320) and the housing (2310)fixed with the driving magnet (2320) can integrally move through theinteraction between the OIS coil part (2420) and the driving magnet(2320).

The OIS coil part (2420) may be formed with an FP (Fine Pattern) coilmounted on the substrate (2410). This case may be advantageous in theaspect of miniaturizing (decreasing the height to an optical axisdirection, which is a z axis direction) the lens driving device. The OIScoil part (2420) may be formed to minimize the interference with an OISsensor part (2720) disposed on a lower side, for example. The OIS coilpart (2420) may be so disposed as not to overlap with the OIS sensorpart (2720) to a vertical direction.

The OIS coil part (2420) may be formed with a through hole (2421)passing a light having passed the lens module. The through hole (2421)may have a diameter corresponding to that of the lens module. Thethrough hole (2421) of OIS coil part (2420) may have a diametercorresponding to that of a through hole (2411) of the substrate (2410).The through hole (2421) of OIS coil part (2420) may have a diametercorresponding to that of a through hole (2510) of the base (2500). Thethrough hole (2421) may be round, for example. However, the presentinvention is not limited thereto.

The base (2500) may be disposed on the PCB (2800). The base (2500) maybe fixed to the PCB (2800) using an active alignment adhesive agent. Thebase (2500) may be disposed on a lower side of bobbin (2210). The base(2500) may be disposed on a lower side of housing (2310). The base(2500) may support the second mover (2300). The base (2500) may beformed at a lower side with a PCB. The base (2500) may function as asensor holder protecting an image sensor mounted on the PCB.

The base (2500) may include a through hole (2510), a foreign objectcollection (capture) part (2520) and a sensor mounting part (2530). Thebase (2500) may include a second erroneous insertion prevention part(not shown). The base (2500) may include a reception part (2550) and aninsertion part (2560).

The base (2500) may include a through hole (2510) formed at a positioncorresponding to that of the lens reception part (2211) of bobbin(2210). Meantime, the through hole (2510) of base (2500) may be coupledby an IR ray filter. However, the IF ray filter may be coupled to aseparate sensor holder disposed on a lower surface of base (2500).

The base (2500) may include a foreign object collection part (2520)collecting a foreign object introduced into the cover member (2100). Theforeign object collection part (2520) may be disposed on an uppersurface of base (2500) to capture an adhesive material and a foreignobject in an inner space formed by the cover member (2100) and the base(2500).

The base (2500) may include a sensor mounting part (2530) coupled by theOIS sensor part (2720). That is, the OIS sensor part (2720) may bemounted on the sensor mounting part (2530). At this time, the OIS sensorpart (2720) may detect the horizontal movement or a tilt of the housing(2310) by detecting the driving magnet (2320) coupled to the housing(2310). The sensor mounting part (2530) may be formed in two (2) pieces,for example. Each of the two sensor mounting parts (2530) may bedisposed with an OIS sensor part (2720). In this case, the OIS sensorpart (2720) may include a first axis sensor and a second axis sensor soformed as to detect all the x axis and y axis direction movement ofhousing (2310).

The second erroneous insertion prevention part may be formed on the base(2500). The second erroneous insertion prevention part may be coupledwith the first erroneous insertion prevention part. The second erroneousinsertion prevention part may include a reception part (2550)accommodating a protrusion (22150) by being inwardly recessed from aside surface of base (2500).

The reception part (2550) may be inwardly recessed from a side surfaceof base (2500). The reception part (2550) may accommodate the protrusion(22150). The reception part (2550) may at least partially take a shapecorresponding to that of protrusion (22150). The reception part (2550)may include a first groove (2551) having a shape corresponding to a lug(2151, 2152) of cover member (2100) as shown in FIG. 28(a). Thereception part (2550) may include a first groove (2551) having a shapecorresponding to that of a first lug (2151) and accommodating the firstlug (2151). The reception part (2550) may a second groove (not shown)having a shape corresponding to that of a second lug (2152) andaccommodating the second lug (2152). The first groove (2551) may have ashape corresponding to that of first lug (2151). The first groove (2551)may accommodate the first lug (2151). The second groove may have a shapecorresponding to that of the second lug (2152). The second groove mayaccommodate the second lug (2152).

The reception part (2550), as a modification, may include a third groove(2553) partially having a shape corresponding to that of lug (2151,2152) of cover member (2100) as illustrated in FIG. 28(b) and having anopened shape at a lower side. The reception part (2550) may partiallyhave a lower side-opened third groove (2553) having a shapecorresponding to that of the first lug (2151). The reception part (2550)may include a lower side-opened fourth groove (not shown) partiallyhaving a shape corresponding to that of the second lug (22152). Thethird groove (2553) may partially have a shape corresponding to that offirst lug (2151). The fourth groove may partially have a shapecorresponding to that of the second lug (2152). The fourth groove may beopened at a lower side.

The second erroneous insertion prevention part may include an insertionpart (2560) protruded from the base (2500) and accommodated into therecess part (2160). The insertion part (2560) may be protruded from aside surface of base (2500) to a side direction to be accommodated intothe recess part (2160) of cover member (2100). The insertion part (2560)may be discontinuously formed as shown in FIG. 24 .

The support member (2600) may connect more than at least two of thefirst mover (2200), the second mover (2300), the stator (2400) and thebase (2500). The support member (2600) may elastically connect more thanat least two of the first mover (2200), the second mover (2300), thestator (2400) and the base (2500) to support a relative movement of eachelement. At least a portion of the support member (2600) may be soformed as to have elasticity. In this case, the support member (2600)may be called an elastic member or a spring.

The support member (2600) may include an upper support member (2610), alower support member (2620) and a side support member (2630), forexample. At this time, the upper support member (2610) and the lowersupport member (2620) may be called an “auto focusing spring”, an “AFelastic member” and the like. Furthermore, the side support member(2630) may be called an “OIS spring”, an “OIS elastic member” and thelike.

The upper support member (2610) may be coupled to an upper surface ofhousing (2310) and to an upper surface of bobbin (2210). An inner part(2612) of upper support member (2610) may be coupled to an uppercoupling part (2213) of bobbin (2210) and an outside part (2611) ofupper support member (2610) may be coupled to an upper coupling part(2313) of housing (2310).

The support member (2610) may include an outside part (2611), an innerpart (2612) and a connection part (2613). The upper support member(2610) may include an inner part (2612) coupled to the bobbin (2210).The upper support member (2610) may include an outside part (2611)coupled to the housing (2310). The upper support member (2610) mayinclude a connection part (2613) connecting the inner part (2612) andthe outside part (2611).

The lower support member (2620) may be coupled to a lower surface ofhousing (2310) and to a lower surface of bobbin (2210). The lowersupport member (2620) may include an outside part (2621), an inner part(2622) and a connection part (2623). The lower support member (2620) mayinclude an outside part (2621) coupled to the housing (2310), an innerpart (2622) connected to the bobbin (2210) and a connection part (2623)elastically connecting the inner part (2622) and the outside part(2621). The lower support member (2620) may be integrally formed, forexample. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. As amodification, the lower support member (2620) may be divisibly formed ina pair to be used for supplying an electric power to the AF coil part(2220).

The side support member (2630) may elastically support the housing(2310) relative to the base (2500). The side support member (2630) maybe coupled at one side to the stator and/or the base (2500), and may becoupled at the other side to the upper support member (2610) and/orhousing (2310). The side support member (2630) may be coupled to thestator and the upper support member (2610). The side support member(2630) may be coupled at one side to the stator (2400), and may becoupled at the other side to the upper support member (2610). Throughthis structure, the side support member (2630) may elastically supportthe second mover (2300) relative to the stator (2400) to allow thesecond mover (2300) to horizontally mover or tilt. The side supportmember (2630) may include a plurality of wires, for example.Alternatively, the side support member (2630), as a modification, mayinclude a plurality of leaf springs, for example. Meantime, the sidesupport member (2630) may be integrally formed with the upper supportmember (2610).

The side support member (2630) or the upper support member (2610) mayinclude a shock absorber (not shown) in order to absorb shocks. Theshock absorber may be formed at any one or more of the side supportmember (2630) and the upper support member (2610). The shock absorbermay be a separate member such as a damper. Alternatively, the shockabsorber may be realized through a partial shape change of any one ormore of the side support member (2630) and the upper support member(2610).

The sensor part may be formed for any one or more of the AF feedback andOIS feedback. The sensor part may detect the position or movement of anyone or more of the first mover (2200) and the second mover (2300). Thesensor part may include an AF sensor part and an OIS sensor part, forexample. The AF sensor part may provide information for AF feedback bysensing a relative vertical movement of bobbin (2210) relative to thehousing (2310). The OIS sensor part (2720) may provide information forOIS feedback by detecting a horizontal movement or tilt of second mover(2300).

The AF sensor part may include an AF sensor (not shown), a sensorsubstrate (not shown) and a sensing magnet (not shown). The AF sensormay be disposed on an upper surface of housing (2310). At this time, thesensing magnet may be disposed on an upper surface of bobbin (2210). TheAF sensor may be disposed on the housing (2310) while being mounted on asensor substrate. The AF sensor may detect the position or movement ofbobbin (2210) by detecting the sensing magnet disposed on the bobbin(2210). The AF sensor may be a Hall sensor detecting magnetism (magneticpower) of sensing magnet. However, the present invention is not limitedthereto.

The OIS sensor part (2720) may be disposed on the stator (2400). The OISsensor part (2720) may be disposed on an upper surface or a lowersurface of substrate (2410). The OIS sensor part (2720) may be disposedon the sensor mounting part (2530) formed at the base (2500) by beingdisposed on a lower side of the substrate (2410), for example. The OISsensor part (2720) may be a Hall sensor, for example. In this case, theOIS sensor part (2720) may sense the relative movement of second mover(2300) relative to the stator (2400) by sensing the magnetic field ofthe driving magnet (2320). The OIS sensor part (2720) may detect all thex axis and y axis movement by including a first axis sensor and a y axissensor, for example. Meantime, the OIS sensor part (2720) may be sodisposed as not to vertically overlap with an FP coil of the OIS coilpart (2420).

Hereinafter, the operation of camera module according to the thirdexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

First, the auto focus function of camera module according to a thirdexemplary embodiment will be explained.

When an electric power is supplied to the AF coil part (2220), the AFcoil part (2220) may move relative to the driving magnet (2320) throughthe electromagnetic interaction between the AF coil part (2220) and thedriving magnet (2320). At this time, the bobbin (2210) coupled by the AFcoil part (2220) may integrally move with the AF coil part (2220). Thatis, the lens module and the bobbin (2210) coupled thereinside may moveto an optical axis direction (vertical and horizontal directions)relative to the housing (2310). This movement of bobbin (2210) mayresult in the lens module moving closely to or distantly from the imagesensor, whereby the focus adjustment on a subject can be implemented bysupplying an electric power to the AF coil part (2220) according to thethird exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Meanwhile, the camera module according to a third exemplary embodimentof the present invention may be applied with an auto focus feedback inorder to implement a more accurate auto focus function. The AF sensordisposed on the housing (2310) and formed in a Hall sensor may detect amagnetic field of sensing magnet fixed to the bobbin (2210). Thus, whenthe bobbin (2210) implements a relative movement to the housing (2310),the amount of magnetic field detected by the AF sensor may be changed.The AF sensor may transmit a detection value to the controller bydetecting a movement of z axis direction of bobbin (2210) or a positionof bobbin (2210) using the abovementioned method. The controller maydetermine whether to implement an additional movement relative to thebobbin (2210) through the received detected value.

These series of processes are generated in real time, whereby the autofocus function according to the present exemplary embodiment can be moreaccurately performed through the auto focus feedback.

Now, the OIS function of camera module according to the third exemplaryembodiment will be described. When a power is supplied to the OIS coilpart (2420), the driving magnet (2320) may perform a movement relativeto the OIS coil part (2420) through the electromagnetic interactionbetween the OIS coil part (2420) and the driving magnet (2320). At thistime, the housing (2310) coupled by the driving magnet (2320) mayintegrally move with the driving magnet (2320). That is, the housing(2310) may horizontally move relative to the base (2500). However, thehousing (2310) may be induced of tilt relative to the base (2500).Meantime, the bobbin (2210) may move integrally with the housing (2310).Hence, the aforementioned movement of the housing (2310) may result inthe lens module moving to a direction relative to the image sensorparallel to a direction (direction perpendicular to the optical axis,horizontal direction) where the image sensor is placed, such that theOIS function can be implemented by supplying a power to the OIS coilpart (2420) in the present exemplary embodiment.

Meantime, in order to perform a more accurate realization of OISfunction on the camera module according to the present exemplaryembodiment, an OIS feedback may be applied. The one pair of OIS sensorparts (2720) mounted on the base (2500) and provided in the form of Hallsensor may detect a magnetic field of the driving magnet (2320) fixed tothe housing (2310). Thus, when the housing (2310) performs a relativemovement to the base (2500), the amount of magnetic field detected bythe OIS sensor part (2720) can be changed. The pair of OIS sensor parts(2720) may detect the horizontal movement (x axis and y axis directions)or the position of the housing (2310) using the thus-mentioned methodand may transmit a received detection value to the controller. Thecontroller may determine whether to perform an additional movement tothe housing (2310) through the received detection value. These series ofprocesses are generated in real time, whereby the OIS function of thecamera module according to the present exemplary embodiment can be moreaccurately performed through the OIS feedback.

Although the present disclosure has been explained with all constituentelements forming the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosurebeing combined in one embodiment, or being operated in one embodiment,the present disclosure is not always limited thereto. That is, one ormore of all the elements may be selectively coupled and operated withinan object scope of the present invention.

Terms “includes”, “comprises” or “have” as used herein mean the presenceof relevant elements unless particularly otherwise defined, such that itshould be appreciated that other elements may not be excluded but may befurther included.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientificterms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one ofordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and thepresent invention, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

The foregoing explanation is intended to merely exemplify the technicalideas of the present invention, and therefore, it should be understoodthat numerous other modifications and amendments can be devised by thoseskilled in the art unless deviated from the intrinsic characteristics ofthe present invention. Thus, the exemplary embodiments disclosed in thepresent invention do not limit but explain the technical ideas of thepresent invention, and the scope of technical ideas of the presentinvention is not limited by the given exemplary embodiments. The scopeof present invention may be interpreted by the following claims and allthe technical ideas within the equivalent scope may be interpreted asincluding the right scope of the present invention.

1. A lens driving device, comprising: a base; a housing disposed on thebase; a bobbin disposed in the housing; a first coil disposed on thebobbin; a magnet disposed on the housing; and a second coil disposed onthe base.